Don't Back Down
by weasleychick32
Summary: This is the sequel to Fight, Fight Again, and Keep Fighting. You'll need to read that first or prepare to be terribly confused. The Horcrux hunt begins. The time travelers and their friends leave Hogwarts and have their strength and perseverance tested in more ways than one on their mission to bring down Voldemort. It's a dangerous mission that they can't assume they'll survive.
1. Ch 1: The Plan

**Don't Back Down**

Disclaimer: I own nothing. JK Rowling is just kind enough to let me play pretend with her make believe world.

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**Chapter 1: The Plan**

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George sat in Transfiguration tapping the tip of his quill idly against his parchment. His chin was resting in the palm of his hand and he was staring absentmindedly at the waterfall of brown curls at the front of the room. Hermione's luscious head of curls swayed hypnotically while she took notes at a furious pace. George couldn't even begin to fathom why she even bothered. All they had been doing for weeks was review for their N.E.W.T.'s and he was sure that by now she would know the material at least as well as McGonagall herself, if not better.

George kept his mouth shut about this to her though. He very much regretted the one and only time he had voiced this opinion to her. She had shouted herself hoarse and then fled the common room in tears leaving him behind completely bewildered. Lily had thankfully taken pity on him and explained that the cavalier attitude that he and Fred approached their N.E.W.T.'s with was not commonplace among most of their year. In fact it was just about the opposite and Hermione in particular was very stressed about them and it was making her something of an emotional loose cannon.

Again, George did not understand why this was, because as far as he was concerned his Hermione was bloody brilliant and incapable of failing anything, let alone something so important to her. However, needless as he thought all of her fretting to be, from that incident onward he did his best to make sure he didn't say anything that might set her off. He was very much the picture perfect boyfriend where her studies were concerned. Although, it was safe to say that he would be very happy once these pesky exams were done and over with and he could spend some alone time with his girlfriend that didn't involve some stuffy textbook.

This train of thought brought him back to the reason he was currently staring at the desirable witch in the front row. It had been weeks since they had last snogged. _Weeks_. If all of this sodding studying and review didn't drive him insane first, the lack of a good snog surely would do him in. All the hours he spent staring at her nibble her bottom lip in concentration had more than likely been his undoing. Or possibly all the time watching those same soft, pink lips pursed together as she absorbed seemingly endless information had unhinged him. Or maybe it was-

BANG!

George snapped out of his stupor and jumped to his feet while snatching his wand from his desk in the same instant. He swiveled his head back and forth as he took in the room around him, looking for the disturbance. Muffled giggles resounded throughout the room and George finally noticed that everyone was staring at him. His eyes swept past a frowning and slightly irritated looking Hermione and then finally clapped onto the very thin lipped McGonagall who stood at the front of the room. She stared him down with narrowed eyes and her lips pressed together in a firm line. George grinned sheepishly at her and lowered his wand while he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Weasley," she said in a clipped tone as she summoned a large textbook that she had previously levitated and dropped onto George's desk to get his attention. George sank back into his seat, still rubbing the back of his neck and wondering how long she had been trying to get his attention this time.

"That's the third time this week, Mr. Weasley, and we've only had class twice. Obviously separating the two of you is not enough. You will serve detention tonight after supper with Mr. Filch. I suggest you make more of an effort to pay attention from now on or I'm afraid that you and our new caretaker will be getting to know each other quite well. And so near the end of the school year, too."

"Of course Professor," George reassured her with a crooked grin. McGonagall raised her eyebrows disbelievingly, but resumed her lecture to the class anyway. George turned his head slightly and glared at Fred beside him. Fred simply smirked in return looking greatly amused. George rolled his eyes. He knew he couldn't expect his brother to snap him out of his Hermione induced stupors every time a professor called on him, but the bloody git didn't have to enjoy it so much.

George sighed as he resigned himself to yet another Filch filled evening. His sigh quickly morphed into a quiet snort as he thought back on McGonagall's words. Get to know each other well indeed. As if he hadn't gotten to know the Filch from his own time well enough. Although the Filch here was still fresh to the position and much more naïve to the creativity and mischievousness that George possessed. It had the potential to make detentions much more amusing and sometimes even downright enjoyable.

George picked up his quill and surreptitiously looked around the room as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to be doing. They were all still taking notes, well most of them anyway. The three remaining Marauders were in the back corner playing hangman and Fred was working on what seemed to be schematics for some new potential joke products. George sighed and turned to the parchment lying in front of him to see where he left off in his notes. He frowned at the various ink splatters that had resulted from his mindless tapping of his quill to his parchment.

The quality cartoon he had spent most of the class period working on was unsalvageable. Shame. It had been one of his better ones. It featured a large cackling Peeves dumping a bucket of ink on a group of scurrying first years while he and Fred grinned mischievously. Hermione was in it, looking beautiful (Although he thought he hadn't been able to do her justice) while absorbed in her latest literary venture. Then there was McGonagall, hawk-like and staring down at them all over a beak-like nose. He had worked pretty hard on it.

He crumpled the now useless parchment into a tight ball, the loud crinkling of the parchment painfully apparent in McGonagall's near silent classroom. McGonagall glared at him from the front of the room. George grinned back unabashedly, causing her lips to thin slightly, but she thankfully carried on with her lecture about… Well George didn't really know. He hadn't paid attention long enough to find out. Ah well.

"There's the bell and the end of the time we have for today," McGonagall announced after a discrete glace at her wristwatch. "I expect you all to practice up on your human Transfiguration before your N.E.W.T.'s next week and be sure to have a buddy handy in case something goes wrong. I'll see you Tuesday for your N.E.W.T.'s and remember, the written exam is bright and early after breakfast and the practical is after lunch. Lastly, as I've been repeating all year, make sure you don't leave your studying until the last minute."

Fred and George mouthed the last of her speech together as they had heard it so many times from various Hogwarts staff. They collected their belongings before heading up to the front to meet with Hermione, Lily, Alice, and Nikki, leaving the Marauders to pack up their things in the back.

George approached Hermione as she slung her very bulky book bag over her shoulder. He kissed her cheek and smiled at her, but she only continued to frown disapprovingly in return. George grimaced internally. It was lecture time. He glanced at Fred out of the corner of his eye and saw that he appeared to be enjoying himself. Git. Hermione opened her mouth to, no doubt, begin her rant, but George raised his hands in surrender and beat her to the punch.

"I know, I know. I should work harder on not letting your beauty distract me during class and I need to take gobs of notes like I'm sure you did even though you don't need them. Luckily for me though, this was our last class until N.E.W.T.'s so none of that matters anymore," George said, grinning cheekily as he removed her book bag from her shoulder and placed it on his own. Hermione ignored the chivalrous gesture in preference of launching into her rant. Students scurried quickly past them and out of the room, no doubt having been subject to Hermione's short temper over the past few months and having no desire for a repeat.

"Then you should be focusing your attention on studying. As far as I have seen, you and Fred have done little to no studying and these are our _N.E.W.T.'s_. They decide our futures. And you haven't even touched the study schedules that I made for everyone," she said with her hands upon her hips. George sighed in exasperation.

"Mione we don't _need_ to study. It's all in here," he said tapping the side of his head. "And I'm sorry, but not everyone can live their life by a color coded schedule. I'm perfectly capable of running my own life and I need to have some spontaneity in it."

"I left you time on the schedule for pranks and having fun," she informed him heatedly. George sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair looking half exasperated and half amused.

"Hermione, you can't schedule a time during the day to be spontaneous. It doesn't work like that. Just- Just relax and trust that I can handle this myself," George tried to soothe her. Hermione's cheeks flushed a light pink.

"Fine," she said shortly. "Fine. I get it. You don't need my help. That's fine." She stared at him a moment and then turned to the door. "I don't need yours either," she said stiffly as she began walking to the door. George's jaw dropped as with a flick of her wand, her book bag flew off his shoulder and into her grip. She marched to the doorway and with one last look over her shoulder she left.

George stood still in shock for a few moments before shaking his head as though to clear it and then hurrying to the doorway.

"Hermione!" he called as he stepped into the hallway, turning left and right trying to spot her bushy curls in the mass of students in the hallway. She was nowhere to be seen. George cursed and re-entered the classroom to see his friends all there exchanging anxious glances. He shook his head silently and ran his hand through his hair. Fred clapped him on the back and gave him an encouraging smile.

"It's alright Georgie, she's just stressed," he reassured him. George frowned.

"I know and this certainly isn't going to help things. Me and my big mouth."

"Don't blame yourself," Fred told him. "She's been building up to something like this happening for ages now. It was only just a matter of time." George shook his head.

"I know, but I shouldn't have provoked her like that. I should've known that she'd read more into it than what I meant with how worked up she is over N.E.W.T.'s," George said sounding miserable. Fred rolled his eyes.

"Well if you're so intent on blaming yourself Forge then maybe you should just go confess your guilt to her. Remember what you told me after that time when I honked the two of you off?" Fred asked. George frowned in thought and then shook his head. Fred grinned at him.

"The longer you wait with her, the worse it gets. She stews," He reminded him. George smiled faintly.

"That she does Gred. Alright, I'll go find her. Three guesses where she went," George said with a small grin. Fred grinned back.

"Library," the spoke simultaneously. George chuckled lightly before securing his bag more firmly on his shoulder.

"I'll see you lot at dinner then, yeah?" he asked looking inquiringly at the group. After various reassurances and farewells George turned back to his brother.

"You'll be alright? Both of you?" Fred asked, showing his concern for the situation for the first time. George grinned at him.

"Course we will. I wouldn't let some puny misunderstanding keep me away from her. I fully intend to marry that girl, you know that," he told him nonchalantly. Fred grinned back.

"Of course."

George clapped Fred on the shoulder before turning and exiting the room. Fred shook his head and chuckled to himself.

"I sure hope Hermione loves him as much as she says she does, because he's a stubborn git that one is," Fred said with a fond smile.

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GW&HG&GW&HG&GW&HG&GW&HG&GW&HG&GW&HG&GW&HG&GW&HG&GW

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George entered the library and craned his neck to see around the expansive room, seeking out that familiar bushy head of hair. Not seeing Hermione in the immediate vicinity he started off towards her usual table in the typically deserted section on muggles. He only paused to deliver a winning smile to the scowling and suspicious librarian. The woman was holding a grudge with him over nothing. It was Fred that had charmed the books to dance the conga for an hour, honest.

George rounded one last bulging bookshelf and then he finally spotted her, exactly where he had thought she'd be. She had her head down on her folded arms and the table, which was normally littered with books covering a slew of topics, was strangely clear. George decided to approach with caution.

"Mione?" he said softly as he gently probed her shoulder. Hermione jerked her head up and her wet, blood-shot eyes widened as she took in George.

"George," she breathed.

"I'm so sorry," they both spoke simultaneously. George stopped and blinked while Hermione chuckled slightly.

"No George, I shouldn't have treated you like that. This is all my fault. I knew I wasn't being fair, but I couldn't make myself stop. I'm sorry." She spoke down at her hands resting on the table top, only occasionally glancing up through her eyelashes at George's face.

"Mione it's alright." He pulled her to him so she leaned her head against his chest as he continued to stand. "I should've known better. I know how stressed you've been about N.E.W.T.'s and I should've just let you scold me and kept my mouth shut." Hermione shook her head, but didn't draw away.

"It's not just N.E.W.T.'s that have me crazy. It's the plan too. And it certainly doesn't help that I'm PMSing."

"I'm going to ignore that last part," George said quickly, eliciting a smile from Hermione. "But why are you worried about the plan? It's going rather well I thought. We've convinced Regulus not to become a Death Eater and help us, and we're making some progress with Snape. Painfully limited progress, yes, but really what did you expect from the slimy git?" George said while pulling a face. Hermione turned her head up to glare at him.

"Well maybe if you guys would stop calling him that and be _nice_ we would be making more progress," she scolded. George grinned.

"Hermione that's like asking me and Fred not to pull pranks, or telling Harry he can no longer fly, or telling you you're not allowed to read," he said with a grin. Hermione sighed and turned her head back to its previous position against his chest.

"I suppose you're right. It'll be easier for him to accept the need for him to become a spy once we're out of school and he doesn't have McNair and all them breathing down his neck. I wish I could trust him enough to tell him the whole truth right now. It would make it so much easier if he could just know when we're from and everything and that he already chose to become a spy and why." Hermione paused for a moment and sighed, sounding exhausted.

"But once he does agree I expect all of you to be civil to each other. No more name calling, no snide remarks, and _no_ pranks," she said firmly.

"Yes mum," George responded teasingly. Hermione stepped half a step back to glare at him.

"I mean it. I don't expect you all to become friends, but I do expect you all to act like adults and treat each other with respect."

"I know, Mione," George said soothingly. "I was only joking. I'll be on my best behavior and do my best to keep the others in line, pinky promise," he said with a grin as he extended his pinky. Hermione scrutinized him carefully before curling her pinky around his and giving it a firm shake.

"Good," George said clapping his hands together briskly. "Now let's go somewhere more comfortable and rest before dinner. Me, Fred, and I think Sirius all have separate detentions tonight so our meeting will be a late one."

Hermione agreed and rose from her seat. George grabbed her book bag from its spot on the floor beside her chair.

"What did Sirius do?" she asked. George smirked at her and they began heading for the library exit.

"Well _supposedly_ he put up several fliers announcing an illegal chimera fight that he planned to host out by the forest tonight after dark and McGonagall found them."

"_George_ _Weasley_, you did not," Hermione hissed quietly as she poked him in the shoulder. George grinned mischievously at her.

"I haven't the foggiest of what you could possibly be insinuating."

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George trudged into the Room of Requirement sometime after eleven and stifled a yawn with the back of his hand. He grimaced at the lingering chemical stench and put his hand back in the pocket of his robes. Cleaning the trophy room without magic had never been his favorite detention, but at least in this time there were less trophies for him to have to clean.

"Alright, I'm here. The party can begin," he announced to the oddly quiet room. He frowned when he received no sarcastic comment in response his statement and took a look around the room for the first time. No one was talking and everyone looked awkward and uncomfortable. He noticed Hermione had yet to join them and was about to ask where she was and what had everyone behaving so oddly when he finally noticed.

"Snape? What are you doing here?" he blurted out. Snape was standing on the right side of the room with Regulus while everyone else stood to the left, save Hermione who wasn't there and Lily who stood awkwardly in the middle sifting her feet. Snape sneered at the less than warm welcome, but Lily spoke before he could respond.

"I brought him," she said quietly. "He asked me to, so I did."

At that moment the door behind George burst open and a frazzled Hermione rushed in.

"Sorry I'm late!" she gasped out. "I fell asleep on my Runes textbook. What are we all standing around for? Let's get warmed up and then…" she trailed off as her eyes finally landed on Snape.

"Oh," she said, blinking owlishly. "What are you doing here?"

Snape scowled at her.

"I knew I shouldn't have bothered. A bunch of Gryffindor lunatics," he muttered before starting for the door.

"No, no, no!" Hermione said hastily as she moved to bodily block the door. "I didn't mean to be rude! I was just surprised! Please stay."

Snape was still scowling at her, but had stopped and seemed to be deliberating something.

"I want to know," he stated simply. Hermione's brow crinkled in confusion.

"Want to know what?" she asked.

"Everything. The whole story. And don't bother lying to me either. I have a few suspicions and I what I overheard today in the library added a few more."

Hermione paled at his last words and exchanged a worried glance with George.

"You heard," she said in a whisper. Snape gave a jerky kind of nod.

"I did," he confirmed.

"Did anyone else?" George asked, looking unusually serious.

"No. I checked."

George and Hermione both breathed sighs of relief and Hermione regained most of her color.

"What did he overhear?" Fred asked, giving George a sharp look. George winced and looked away.

"I may have spoken a bit about wishing we could tell Severus when we were from and that he became a spy and why," Hermione confessed.

"And you called him Weasley as you were leaving," Snape added. Hermione and George both winced.

"Georgie you're slipping," Fred said shaking his head. George stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"Are you going to tell me or not?" Snape demanded impatiently. Hermione frowned and then shrugged.

"I suppose at this point it would be best," she responded. Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Undoubtedly," he deadpanned. Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Okay so it's kind of a long story," Hermione began hesitantly. Snape exhaled irritably.

"Fine. Just get on with it," he snapped. This time Hermione did roll her eyes. The room transformed from the D.A.'s room to the comfortable room with the wide variety of furniture to choose from. The only hint that Snape was surprised by the sudden change was a blink of his eyes, otherwise his face remained impassive. Everyone chose a seat and then turned to Hermione to begin the story.

"So first of all we, that is to say Fred, George, and I, come from 17 years in the future. You were our potions teacher at Hogwarts." Hermione paused, but as Snape showed no sign of surprise or inclination to interrupt decided to continue on.

"Most of the story of our past and your former future revolves around one person; Harry James Potter, James and Lily's son."

Hermione finally received a reaction from Snape as his nostrils flared and his lips tightened.

"I see no reason for me to have to listen to this," he said stiffly as he rose to his feet and made for the door.

"No!" Hermione cried as she leapt to her feet. "Please listen!" Snape ignored her and continued to the door.

"They're dead!" Hermione yelled desperately. "Murdered. Lily's dead."

Snape stopped in his tracks, but did not turn.

"Who?" he asked quietly.

"Voldemort," Hermione answered. "He killed her even though you asked him not to. That's why you became a spy for our side."

There were several moments of silence before Snape finally turned. He scrutinized Hermione carefully and seemed to find what he was looking for. He resumed his seat.

"Tell me everything."

So Hermione did. It took about an hour, but finally Snape knew everything. Well, almost everything.

"You're holding something back," Snape stated after several moments of silence in which he digested the onslaught of information. Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat and glanced discretely at Fred out of the corner of her eye. Snape scowled at her as he saw she wasn't going to answer.

"Just tell him Hermione," Fred said quietly. Both George and Hermione turned to look at him in surprise.

"No," George said. Fred shook his head.

"We have to. He has to trust us," Fred told them. Hermione frowned as she thought it out. George on the other hand began protesting.

"But we've already told him everything else. We don't have to tell him the rest of it."

"Yes we do Georgie, and you know that," Fred quietly told his twin. George shook his head and ran his hand through his hair in agitation.

"I think Fred is right," Hermione said hesitantly. George scowled at her.

"No," George said resolutely. Hermione sighed.

"George what we've already told him has put us all in more danger than revealing the last of it will do," Hermione explained calmly.

"But this is different!" George said loudly.

"I know George," Hermione said placatingly. "Trust me, I know. But we have to-,"

"No we don't!" he all but yelled at her. Hermione gave him a sharp look.

"Let's go have a conversation, George," she said quietly. George glared defiantly at her, but stood and followed her to the other side of the room none-the-less. Hermione put up a muffilito charm, leaving the rest of the room in the dark over their conversation.

"-Er sorry bout him," Fred started uncertainly, looking just slightly to the left of Snape's face. "He's been a bit over protective ever since… Well if I know Hermione you're about to find out. Reg, this'll be new to you too. I hope you understand why we didn't tell you before."

Snape showed no sign that he had heard him while Regulus only shrugged, but looked extremely curious as he watched Hermione and George's conversation. Hermione was currently standing a scant few inches from George with her hands on her hips while hissing something at him with an angry expression upon her face. George on the other hand looked frustrated and maybe slightly chagrinned.

"Did I teach her my muffilito spell?" Snape suddenly asked. Fred snorted.

"No. Harry somehow got ahold of your sixth year potions book and learned it from there," told him. Snape's face twisted into a sneer.

"So he's a no good miscreant like his father. Should have known."

James and Sirius both instantly leapt to their feet with their wands drawn, but before either could do anything more than glare Hermione was back.

"Oh sit down," she snapped, obviously in a foul mood. The boys both looked to her in surprise.

"But he said-," Sirius started.

"Oh honestly! Who cares what he said!" Hermione said throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. "Did you really expect him to change his ways in the past few minutes? I didn't! And for that matter I could call you both a couple of reckless, pig headed bullies who don't care about anyone outside of their circle of friends! Would that make you want to duel me?" she demanded angrily.

The boys in question both glanced quickly down at the wand clenched tightly in her hand and then shook their heads hastily.

"I didn't think so," she said scathingly. She turned and faced Regulus and Snape.

"Fred was killed in the final battle and stayed dead for six months before Ma'at brought him back to life and sent him back to the past to help George and I change the future," she said quickly and in a heated tone. The stunned looks on Snape and Regulus's faces were quite comical, but Hermione seemed to be in too much of a huff to notice.

"Nicely done, Mione," Fred said, looking highly amused. "Why waste time easing them into the news when you can be blunt and to the point?"

Hermione ignored him and turned back to the majority of the group.

"Now I had planned to have us work more on our Occlumency tonight, but I'm no longer in the mood. We'll work on our dueling instead. Fred, you're my partner," she said as she marched off and the room changed back to the D.A.'s practice room, dumping those still sitting in their chairs onto the hard floor. Fred's jaw dropped open in horror. George barked out a laugh and slapped Fred on the back.

"Good luck brother," George said gleefully.

"She's going to murder me," Fred groaned miserably. George winced at his choice of words.

"Better you than me," he recovered.

"Hurry up, Fred," Hermione demanded impatiently. "We don't have all night."

Fred scowled at her and flipped George the bird behind his back as he reluctantly approached Hermione who was tapping her foot impatiently. He reached his spot and drew his wand from his pocket.

"No stretches to warm up?" he asked halfheartedly. Hermione scowled at him.

"Death Eaters aren't going to allow you to stretch and warm up," she snapped. Fred rolled his eyes.

"Right."

They bowed to each other and the fight began. Hermione was so ferocious in her attack that Fred was barely able to get out any offense of his own. Fred threw himself to the floor to avoid one jet of light and then had to immediately roll to miss another. He thought he almost had her once, but she twisted out of the way in just the nick of time.

The fight continued on for another ten minutes at the end of which both were panting and struggling to keep up the same energy with which they had started. It ended when Hermione managed to distract Fred with one spell before slamming a stunner straight into his chest. Fred went down and Hermione grinned at her victory.

She went over to his unconscious body and prodded him in the chest with her wand.

"_Ennervate_," she said quietly. Fred jerked back to life and groaned as he sat up.

"Bloody hell Hermione," he grumbled. "Next time you need a target for your anger pick George."

Hermione grinned. "Sorry Fred," she said as she helped pull him to his feet, seeming much more cheerful. Fred continued to grumble to himself as they joined the others.

"Who's next?"

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**AN: Welcome back! Hope this was up to par. Sorry about the wait, but trust me that the show will go on. :)**

**Pretty Pretty Please review even if it's just to say "Nice" or "Good job". Reviews are motivation people!**

**Also I'm going to be making some minor edits to Fight, Fight Again, and Keep Fighting at some point so if you get any notifications about it just ignore them. :)**


	2. Ch 2: The End of the Beginning

**Chapter 2: The End of the Beginning**

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Hermione was scribbling fiercely with her nose a scant inch from the parchment. Her writing was cramped and slightly sloppy from her rush to get every last ounce of her knowledge on Protean Charms onto her Charms exam. She'd already filled the front side of the scroll and was quickly running out of space on the backside. She ended her sentence and sat back slightly with a short huff of frustration. There just wasn't enough space for everything she wanted to say, but this would have to do. Although you would think with it being an essay question they would have given her more parchment to write on.

"Time's up. Quills down. _Accio_."

Hermione frowned as she watched her exam mix in with everyone else's while they flew towards the examiner at the front of the room. She began collecting her things as she mentally reviewed her answers on the short answer part of the exam. She frowned and wondered if two paragraphs on the proper wand movement for a Disillusionment Charm was too long and if they'd dock her points for it.

She scowled to herself for making such a silly mistake. She heaved her bag onto her shoulder and hurried off to lunch where she planned to scarf something down before doing some last minute studying for the Charms practical that afternoon. After Charms, she was done. Her N.E.W.T.'s would be over along with her Hogwarts education. She forced her mind away from the bittersweet topic. It wouldn't do to neglect her practical because she was too busy fretting about what had to happen after graduation.

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. . . . .

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"Freedom!" George exclaimed dramatically as he exited Hogwarts, closely followed by his twin and various friends. A few younger students turned to look at the disruption, but it had been such a typical reaction that they quickly turned back to their previous engagements without comment.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Forge," Fred agreed as he took a few long strides to catch up to his brother and throw his arm around his shoulders. "How about a celebratory dip in honor of the completion of our formal education?" Fred suggested with a mischievous grin as he gestured to the lake with a large sweep of his arm. George's eyes lit up.

"Brilliant idea Gred! Oy you lot!" He yelled at their friends trailing behind them and chatting happily. "We're going swimming. You all in?"

The Marauders immediately began looking excited and voiced their agreement. Lily and Alice exchanged nervous glances.

"But what about the giant squid?" Alice asked. Fred and George snorted in unison.

"He wouldn't hurt a pixie," they responded. Alice and Lily traded glances again and shrugged.

"Alright then. Nikki what do you-?" Lily began.

"Last one there gets dunked!" Nikki shouted as she ran past the twins in a simple black bikini, having already transfigured her robes. George laughed as the Marauders, Lily, and Alice immediately chased after her. Fred stood rooted to the spot staring after her with his mouth open slightly.

"You know Freddy typically _just_ _friends_ don't drool over each other," George said with a smirk. Fred's jaw snapped shut immediately and he turned to glare at George.

"I wasn't drooling. She just took me by surprise is all. Who knew she had that kind of body under those baggy robes, yeah?" he said with another appreciative look towards the lake. George rolled his eyes at his stubborn twin.

"Hey where's Hermione?" George asked, looking around the grounds for his girlfriend. Fred shrugged, the majority of his attention still focused on the lake.

"I think she said something to Lily about going back up to the common room for some peace and quiet," he told him. George frowned.

"She doesn't need peace and quiet. She needs friends and sun and relaxation," George said to no one in particular. Fred just shrugged. "Right well I'm going to go get her. You can go ahead on down to the lake if you'd like," George told his twin, looking amused at his distracted state. Fred scowled at his brother before turning and strutting off towards the lake.

"We're just friends!" he called over his shoulder.

"I'll believe it when I see it!" George called back with a grin. He shook his head at his brother's denial and headed back into the castle. It was time to track down a bookworm.

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DBD#DBD#DBD#DBD#DBD#DBD#DBD#DBD#DBD#DBD#DBD#DBD

.

Hermione was sitting on her bed with a book open in her lap, but her head was tipped back and resting on the wall behind her and her eyes shut. It had been months since she had been able to just relax like this. She didn't have anything that had to be done right away and it was wonderful to just let the stress bleed off of her. Now if only she had some music life would truly be wonderful.

The door to her room banged open, shattering the silence. Hermione jumped at the sudden noise and her eyes flew open.

"Hullo love. Thought you'd hide away up here all alone?" George asked cockily as he leaned James's broomstick against the wall and approached her bed. Hermione scowled at him.

"I'd hoped to, yes," she said stiffly. "I should have known that wouldn't be the case with you around." George frowned at her.

"C'mon Mione. Don't be like that," he said softly as he stroked the back of his hand down her cheek. Hermione closed her eyes to his touch and exhaled deeply, wiling the tension away from her shoulders.

"Sorry," she said softly. "I was just finally alone with my thoughts and nothing demanding my attention and I was enjoying it." George nodded in understanding.

"I get it, Mione. Really I do. I just think some sun and being around friends would be good for you right now too. We're swimming in the lake. I thought maybe you could bring down a book and sit under the beech tree for a bit if you don't want to swim," George said looking at her hopefully. Hermione sighed and leaned back against the wall with a frown tugging her lips.

"Please Mione," George pleaded. "I won't bug you and I'll let you relax and read and if after an hour you want to come back inside I'll let you go without a single complaint." Hermione made the mistake of looking at his eyes. She winced at she got the full impact of George's puppy dog look and looked away. George beamed.

"Fine," she sighed, although George already knew he had won. "But after the hour is up I don't want to even see a pout on your face when I come back inside," Hermione warned. George cracked off a salute with a wide grin on his face.

"Yes ma'am! Now let's find you something more comfortable to wear outdoors," he said before approaching the chest of drawers beside her bed.

"George!" Hermione exclaimed as she hopped off her bed. "I am perfectly capable of dressing myself, thank you. Now go downstairs and wait while I change." George laughed and pecked her on the cheek before snatching the borrowed broom up and straddling it.

"I'll be waiting. Try not to take forever," he said with a wink. Hermione's scowl was lost on him as he'd already zoomed out the door and down the staircase. For that comment Hermione took as much time as possible changing into her Bermuda shorts and t-shirt. She slipped into a pair of sandals and then entered the bathroom to find a way to contain her hair.

Some ten minutes after George had left her she emerged from the girls' staircase. She didn't have to look far to find George as he was leaning against the wall at the base of the stairs and whistling to himself.

"You look stunning," George said quietly and pecked her cheek. Hermione flushed slightly, but looked pleased.

"I didn't do anything special," she said in an embarrassed tone. George grinned at her as though that had been exactly what he'd wanted her to say.

"It must just be natural then."

Hermione rolled her eyes and swatted his shoulder while trying to suppress her smile.

"You're such a flirt."

"Only with beautiful brunettes whose names begin with Hermione and end in Granger," George said with a wink. Hermione rolled her eyes and began walking towards the portrait hole to hide her grin. George levitated a folded stack of towels that had been sitting on the floor beside him and followed.

"Mione, as much as I love the view, wait up," he called after her, rather louder than needed in Hermione's opinion. Hermione flushed and turned to wait for him.

"Did you get towels for everyone?" she asked, eyeing the stack of towels. George nodded and they exited the common room.

"I didn't think any of them would think to leave anything to transfigure for a towel so I transfigured some of the stuff up in the boys' dorm," he said with a mischievous smirk in place. Hermione frowned at him.

"What did you do?" she asked suspiciously. George grinned at her.

"Well I might have used some rather unorthodox items of clothing for a few of the towels and charmed them to revert back to their normal state once they've got a certain degree of moisture on them."

Hermione looked as though she was going to scold him for a moment, but then she just shook her head.

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't ask," she said sounding slightly exasperated. George beamed at her.

"Tis a fine plan," he announced as he slid his arm that wasn't currently controlling the floating towels around her waist. "But of course what else could I expect from one as brilliant as you, love." Hermione eyed his suspiciously.

"Have you done something? Or are you planning to? Is that why you're trying to butter me up?"

"Of course not Mione, love," he said dismissively. "I'm just showing my love and appreciation for all that you are and do!" Hermione continued to look at him disbelievingly.

"I'll reserve judgment," she decided.

"That's alright," George reassured happily, "So long as you continue to bless me with you presence in the meantime." Hermione rolled her eyes and hopped over a trick step at the same time. George continued to shower her with compliments all the way out the front doors of the castle. They reached the lake and both had to stop and smile fondly at their friends.

Currently James, Remus, and Fred had Lily, Alice, and Nikki on their respective shoulders trying to push each other off while Sirius ran around everyone splashing and tickling to try and sabotage anyone and everyone. Hermione giggled as she watched Lily shriek and her and James both go under after a well-placed poke to James's ribs from Sirius combined with a good shove from Alice.

Remus and Alice cheered their victory and Remus stomped in a few celebratory circles while Alice laughed happily. James and Lily resurfaced sputtering. Lily began laughing as Nikki and Fred attacked Alice and Remus taking advantage of their distracted state and sending them tumbling much the same as James and Lily had. James on the other hand roared in pretend rage and dove after Sirius who was trying to escape looking fearful. James was too quick for him though, and before Sirius knew it he had been dunked and given an underwater noogie.

George turned back to Hermione, still chuckling at their friends. He lowered the stack of towels to the ground beside the beech tree and summoned from the pile a quilt. He spread the quilt across the grass and motioned for Hermione to sit. She smiled at George's thoughtfulness and lowered herself to the blanket with her book resting in her lap.

"Thank you, George," she told him sincerely.

"Not a problem, love. Now if you're all set here, I'm needed down there," he said jerking his thumb towards their friends. "Nikki has stayed dry for far too long." Hermione chuckled.

"So it would seem," she agreed. "Have fun." George grinned at her happily.

"I plan to," he said before swiftly leaning in to give her a hard kiss on the lips. Hermione gasped slightly and moved her lips in response, but then George was already pulling back.

"Enjoy your book, love," he said with a wink before jogging off towards the lake and stripping down to his transfigured swimming trunks as he went. Hermione admired the view before shaking her head slightly and turning to the book in her lap. George had been right to drag her out here. It was wonderful just sitting in the sun and hearing her friends laughing and being carefree. As young as they all were, these kinds of days did not happen as frequently as they should.

.

DBD~*~DBD~*~DBD~*~DBD~*~DBD~*~DBD~*~DBD~*~DBD~*~DBD~*~DBD~*~DBD~*~DBD

.

George shook his head roughly in an attempt to get the water out of his ears. It had been incredibly fun playing in the lake with everyone although he wished Hermione would have been up for swimming with them. He would have loved to see her in a bikini. Still, he had quite enjoyed being able to look up at the shore and see her, first, reading peacefully with the sun shining on her, and then sleeping soundly with her book as a pillow in the fading sun's golden glow.

The distraction, in his perspective, had been a good one, but had made him a rather poor teammate to his friends. More times than not his team had been knocked over because he was busy watching Hermione rather than watching out for opponents. His friends of course had noticed and ribbed him mercilessly. Still, he couldn't bring himself to mind much.

He had hated to wake up Hermione when she so desperately needed the sleep, but he knew she'd be upset if she slept through dinner as it would then cut into their training time later. He had managed to rouse her just in time to hear a shriek coupled with a loud yell of surprise. George turned to the sources and began laughing uproariously.

James had been drying his face when his towel had suddenly morphed into Sirius's favorite pair of Wimbourne Wasp boxers. He had been the yell of shock as he'd thrown them away from himself in disgust. Nikki had been drying her chest when her towel had changed into Fred's obnoxious color changing boxers that flashed different colors continuously. She had made the shriek and had immediately dropped them to the ground.

"HEY!" Fred suddenly yelled. "You were supposed to use a pair of James's, not mine!" he said while snatching his underpants from the ground and stuffing them in his pocket, carefully avoiding looking at Nikki. George was laughing too hard to respond. He was also laughing too hard to notice Fred remove his wand from his pocket. Hermione luckily did and scooted out of range.

George finally stopped laughing when a sudden jet of water struck him in the face. Fred ended the spell and was pleased to see George dripping wet, coughing and sputtering, and most of all no longer laughing.

"Who's ready for dinner?" Fred asked the group at large. Almost everyone made loud noises of agreement to the suggestion.

"I think I've lost my appetite actually," James muttered darkly as he glared at the offending pair of underpants lying in the dirt. Fred just smirked at him while Sirius picked up his underpants and Remus snickered.

"Suit yourself then."

.

DBD{+}DBD{+}DBD{+}DBD{+}DBD{+}DBD{+}DBD{+}DBD{+}DBD{+}DBD{+}DBD{+}DBD

.

It was several hours later that found the same group of teens lounging around the Room of Requirement waiting for the last two individuals to arrive before they started the meeting. Their Slytherin compatriots had to find an opportune time to slip away from their fellow housemates so as to not arouse suspicions to their nightly absence. Snape in particular had to be very careful that he was never seen sneaking out of his common room or be found missing from his bed at night seeing as he was a Death Eater living amongst Death Eaters.

"Did you get the pictures?" George muttered discretely to Fred. Fred smirked at him and pulled several photos from his pocket. George grinned and quickly flipped through them.

There were a few of them as a group playing in the lake, one of Hermione sleeping beneath the shade of the beech tree (George paused on this one until Fred cleared his throat to hurry him along), and then the final two that George had been hoping to see most; James looking absolutely revolted as his towel changed into Sirius's boxers and then flinging them away and glaring fiercely at the camera and Nikki shrieking mutely looking horrified as she dropped Fred's boxers to the ground.

George snickered to himself as he watched the photos repeat over, and over, and over. It had been a great prank and had worked out perfectly. Fred glared at him.

"You realize that you have forced me to prank you in return don't you brother mine?" Fred asked seriously. George merely grinned back at his brother.

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't brother."

"What are you two snickering over?" Nikki suddenly demanded, giving the twins the stink eye with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Nothing," Fred and George responded immediately with identical innocent smiles. George discretely returned the photos to Fred who snuck them back into his pocket. Nikki raised her eyebrows disbelievingly.

"Right. And maybe I would believe that if I was a first year. What's in your pocket Fred?" she asked. Fred widened his eyes and blinked innocently.

"Nothing Nikki darling. You know, one would think with the way you're treating us that you don't trust us," Fred told her, feigning a hurt expression. Nikki snorted.

"You put the Quaffle through the hoop with that one," she responded as she drew her wand from her pocket. Fred and George both eyed the stick of wood warily.

"What exactly are you-," Fred began nervously.

"_Accio_," she interrupted him. "_Accio_, _Accio_, _Accio_." Fred and George both yelled indistinctly and tried to snatch back the various objects zooming out of Fred's pockets and into Nikki's hands.

Unfortunately, neither of them thought to put up a shield charm. Several small prank items flitted away through Fred's fingers along with a miniature Wizarding camera, some candy wrappers, a piece of parchment folded into a small square, and finally, the photos. Nikki immediately began sifting throw the items for what could cause the boys to be so secretive. Hermione was giggling behind her hand as she watched the scene, causing both Fred and George to glare halfheartedly at her.

"S-sorry," she said as she got herself under control. "But this is just like before the Quidditch World Cup." Fred and George winced.

"Thanks for that Mione," George started.

"We'd been trying to suppress those memories," Fred finished. Hermione just smiled at them and shook her head.

"Ah ha! Nikki exclaimed victoriously as she spotted the photos. She flipped through them slowly, smiling slightly. Their friends quickly grouped behind her to check them out. George knew when they had reached the picture of Hermione sleeping because she blushed pink and glanced up at George who smiled widely and winked. Nikki flipped to the next picture and James flushed red.

"Oy!" he yelled at the twins who, along with everyone else, were laughing heartily. Nikki though, looked nervous as she flipped to the last picture and her fears were confirmed as she clapped eyes on her horrified self. The laughing of their friends increased and her cheeks tinted pink ever so slightly.

Fred flicked his wand, causing the photos to fly from her hands and back into his before they could come to any harm. She glared at him and he simply winked in return. George inwardly rolled his eyes at their display.

"Can I have the rest of my stuff back now?" Fred asked her with a teasing grin. Nikki continued her glare.

"Do you always carry this much junk with you?" she asked curiously as she examined his stuff. She spotted the folded parchment and set about unfolding it. Fred quickly moved forward and snatched it from her hands. Her eyebrows shot up.

"Are you always this nosey?" Fred asked without heat as he stuffed the parchment back into his pocket. Nikki's eyes followed the parchment.

"Yes," she answered honestly. "What's on it?" she asked.

"It's private," Fred told her and then immediately regretted his words choice when she smirked at him and a teasing light lit up her eyes.

"Oooo is it from a secret admirer?" she probed, fluttering her eyelashes. Fred swallowed.

"No," he replied without elaborating. Nikki grinned.

"It's a love note then," she said delightedly.

"_No_," Fred repeated.

"It is," she insisted.

"Not."

"Is."

"Not."

"Is."

"Not."

"Is-,"

"Enough, children!" Remus interrupted, coming between the bickering pair with a hand out to each of them. "We're just about ready to start and with the way you two go at it we'll be here all night if you don't save this for tomorrow."

Fred blinked and looked around and sure enough both Snape and Regulus had arrived. Regulus was looking at he and Nikki looking faintly amused while Hermione had the other half of his attention talking to him about something or other.

Snape had dragged George to the corner where they were discussing something in low urgent tones. Fred frowned. His frown deepened when he tried to listen and an indistinct buzzing assaulted his ears.

George glanced over at him and Fred stiffened slightly at the worry and fear he saw reflected in his brother's eyes. He immediately turned to begin making his way over to George, but stopped when George gave a barely noticeable shake of his head. He lifted his eyebrow ever so slightly in response. George nodded just as discretely as before.

Fred hesitated slightly, but nodded back and turned to go back to the group with a concerned frown on his face. He stopped short when he saw Nikki looking at him obviously having seen the conversation he and George had had. He wasn't sure what she had taken away from the vague facial expressions they had exchanged, but from the look on her face she definitely knew something was up. She opened her mouth with a question obviously on her tongue but Fred shook his head much the same as George had. She closed her mouth looking confused.

'_Later_,' Fred mouthed.

Nikki frowned and seemed to think it over before nodding and giving him a look to let him know that he better not keep her out of the loop. Fred rolled his eyes and plastered a grin to his face as he joined the Marauders in conversation. The smile looked genuine and his laugh sounded real, but those who knew him best would still be able to look into his eyes and see the worry shadowed there. There wasn't much that scared him and George, so seeing the blatant fear in his twin's eyes had really struck a chord in him. Out of the corner of his eye he watched George rejoin the group looking grim.

"Alright, let's get started," Hermione called out, clapping her hands together. "First order of business, do we have any new ideas for our Headquarters once we've graduated?" she asked looking around at them all. Sirius raised his hand slightly to gain her attention. Hermione nodded at him to continue.

"Well James, Remus, and I were talking about it and James definitely has enough money to afford a small place. We would just need a way to purchase the place so that it will be hard to track where the place is and who bought it. We also agreed that it would ideally be somewhere out of the country so it would be less likely to be found."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully at each of the points he brought up.

"I agree on the covering our trail bit," Lily added as they all sat quietly and thought out their options. "But would it really be necessary for it to be out of the country if we could put a Fidelius Charm on it?"

Remus nodded. "We think so, because while a Fidelius charm can protect someone from finding out where it is, it can't protect it from physical damage. With the way that the Death Eaters are targeting and destroying everything in Britain we figured that there was just as much chance of a targeted attack on it without the Fidelius as a random attack that just so happens to be in whatever neighborhood we choose."

"But what if we didn't pick some random house in a random neighborhood?" George asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked curiously.

"I mean, who said that it has to be a house that we just randomly pick out of hundreds of options? The Death Eaters are attacking communities of muggles and wizards alike, meaning no community, no neighborhood, is safe, so why not go outside of those limits?" George said. Fred's eyes lit up with an idea.

"Of course! Forge you're a genius," he exclaimed. George smiled smugly. "We could scout out the perfect area and _build our own_ Headquarters," Fred announced. "Hermione, when you, Harry, and Ron we on the run you didn't stay in populated areas did you?" Fred asked. Hermione shook her head, her eyes glowing with possibilities.

"No of course not," she answered. "Only the most deserted woods and hillsides."

"Exactly," George said, "So why would we try to blend and hide with those we know are being attacked and hope to be overlooked when we could be in the middle of bleeding nowhere and for all purposes be invisible?" George asked excitedly.

"How are we going to decide where?" Alice asked curiously.

"We can check out a few of the places that we stayed at in the original hunt," Hermione said thoughtfully. "The Forest of Dean is on my mind as a particular option, but we would need to go there and see how it is in this time before making a decision. We can scout the area disillusioned on broomsticks and make sure we don't encounter any surprises. I know my parents and I used to camp there when I was young, so there is the possibility that there is a muggle campground there, but it's a rather large wood so we can go to an unused section of it if need be. With the right wards cast it shouldn't make much difference anyway."

Everyone looked excited by the prospect that they had possibly solved their housing issue.

"How will we get there?" Lily asked. "Apparation, the Floo?" Hermione shook her head.

"No we can't risk setting it up to the Floo Network. The Ministry monitors it and I don't want Headquarters to be on anyone's radar, especially the Ministry's. We'll have to scout out an apparation point outside the wards. We'll put up some charms around the apparation point to repel muggles and silence the sound of us apparating. A notice-me-not charm wouldn't go amiss either," she mumbled the last to herself more than anyone, but they all nodded anyway.

"What about me?" Regulus asked hesitantly. "I still have another year of school and I'll be 17 in October, but it won't be easy to sneak out all the time for training and meetings, and people will get suspicious."

Everyone nodded, they all knew that by '_people'_ he meant Death Eaters. Hermione frowned in thought. She sat silently for a minute or so while everyone batted a few ideas around that didn't really stick. Suddenly she sat up straight and had a gleam in her eyes.

"I've got it," she announced. Everyone quieted. "In my 6th year Draco Malfoy used a set of vanishing cabinets to allow Death Eaters to infiltrate Hogwarts. If we could get ahold of a set we can station one in a special room here in the Room of Requirement and another at Headquarters." Everyone began agreeing excitedly.

"We'll have to be careful when we make the room," James stipulated. "We should be specific that only Regulus be able to enter it, or only people who know where Headquarters is." Everyone instantly agreed.

"Alright," Hermione said, "Let's leave this where it's at until next time and if anyone thinks of something to add we can discuss it then. Second order of business, what should we call ourselves? It would promote a sense of unity if we gave ourselves a name and this way we present a united front to our enemies. It should be something that doesn't give away exactly what we're up to and should sound innocent should anyone happen to overhear us speaking of it."

Fred and George smirked at each other. "Like the D.A.?" they asked.

"Exactly," Hermione said. "Only we're not exactly Dumbledore's Army this time around so I was thinking something else would be more fitting." Snape sneered in agreement. There was a moment of silence as they all thought.

"Freedom Fighters?" Lily suggested.

"Community Defenders?" Alice said, following Lily's train of thought.

"Voldy Destroyers," Fred suggested with a smirk.

"There's always the Defense Association like Cho suggested," Hermione said, ignoring Fred.

"Soul Crushers!" George exclaimed. "Cuz we're destroying Horcruxes which are bits of Voldy's soul, geddit?" Fred, James, and Sirius laughed.

"Warriors of the Light?" Remus threw out, following Hermione's lead and ignoring the ridiculous suggestions.

"Warriors for Peace," Regulus said.

"Defender's Anonymous," Sirius suggested playfully.

"Death Eater, Eaters!" James yelled.

"YEAH!" Fred, George, and Sirius all agreed vehemently. Hermione huffed in irritation and cast a silencing spell on all four of them then disarmed them and stowed their wands away in the back pocket of her shorts.

"I'm trying to think of a good acronym we can use outside of meetings," Hermione said thoughtfully while ignoring the indignant gestures and pseudo angry expressions the boys were displaying.

"Like if it could be some kind of animal or something," Alice suggested thoughtfully. "Something short like Hawk or Lion or-,"

"Snake?" Snape suggested with a smirk. Alice flushed slightly.

"No house references," Hermione intervened quickly.

"What about Wolves?" Lily suggested with a side-long glance at Remus who grimaced. "We could be Warriors of Light, Vigilante Services or WOLVS." Snape's face twisted into a sour expression and even Regulus and Remus looked slightly put off by it.

"No. No wolves either," Hermione said with a shake of her head. "Let's try to find something that doesn't strictly describe anyone we know whether in this group or not."

"Resistance Association for Magical Society," Snape suggested during the quiet they had fallen into. "RAMS." Everyone appeared to be showing the idea serious consideration.

"What if we tweak it a bit," Hermione suggested. "Resistance _Alliance_ for Magical Society." Everyone made noises of agreement and even Snape nodded.

"Okay so everyone in favor of RAMS, hands please?" Hermione said. Everyone (meaning to say everyone excluding those who had been silenced) raised their hands.

"Wonderful," Hermione said happily. "Well, now that's settled shall we get started?"

She turned as George tapped her shoulder and gestured first to his mouth and then to her pocket.

"You want your wand back?" she asked sweetly. He and the silenced boys behind him all nodded.

"Alright, but you'll have to work for them," Hermione said with a sugary smile as she pulled her wand out of her other back pocket. George looked confused and slightly nervous.

"What? You're helpless without your wands? What if a Death Eater took your wand? Are you just going to ask him or her nicely to give it back?" Hermione asked as she rose to her feet. George glared at her and shook his head. Hermione knew that he meant that he didn't want to fight her muggle style for his wand.

"Oh c'mon George. The four of you wandless should be able to retrieve your wands from little me even while I'm armed," Hermione said as she grabbed the front of his t-shirt and guided him out to the middle of the room, away from everyone else. She crooked her finger, beckoning Fred, James, and Sirius to follow. They exchanged glances, shrugged, and followed. Hermione backed away from the boys with her wand at the ready.

"Ready?" she asked. Fred, James, and Sirius all nodded while George shook his head adamantly.

"Alright, go!" Hermione said, apparently ignoring George's concerns.

Fred and Sirius both immediately ran at her. Hermione threw up a shield that tossed them both back a couple feet where they were knocked back on their rear ends. James suffered a trip jinx that caused him to fall on his face as he tried to sneak up behind her. Hermione danced away and glanced at George. He had sat himself down cross-legged in the middle of the floor with his arms folded across his chest and a petulant scowl on his face. Hermione grinned.

"Suit yourself darling," she said as she aimed a tickling charm at him. He collapsed sideways, clutching his sides and his body shaking in silent laughter.

Hermione chuckled to herself and absentmindedly flicked her wand at Fred and Sirius who had once again come at her. A jet of water sprayed the floor directly in front of them and they both slipped and went crashing to the floor before they even got close to her. Hermione spun away from James not a moment too soon and jerked her wand upward once she was out of range. James let out a silent yell of surprise as he was hoisted into the air by his ankle and left to dangle there. Hermione giggled and moved further away from Fred and Sirius who had made it to their feet and were eyeing her warily.

"C'mon boys, you're so predictable. Try some creativity would you?" Hermione taunted with a grin. Fred stopped and seemed to be thinking. Then he reached into his pocket and withdrew and brightly wrapped candy. Hermione's eyes narrowed.

"Fred Weasley don't you dare," she threatened softly. Fred grinned and unwrapped the candy. He split the orange end of the chew from the purple and considered it teasingly.

"Fred," Hermione warned. Fred grinned and raised his eyebrows in a way that seemed to say, 'You told me to'. Sirius and Fred traded glances and nodded. Sirius took off full sprint at Hermione. She fired a Jelly-Legs and a Leg-Locker curse at him, but he managed to dodge them both. Finally, when he was only a few feet away Hermione managed to hit him with a Bat Bogey Hex in her desperation to stop him. Sirius was immediately stopped as he tried to fend off the bats, but his distraction had proven to be adequate for Fred to get close enough to implement his plan.

Fred popped the orange end of the sweet into his mouth and immediately retched at Hermione. Hermione jumped back in horror, but not fast enough. She avoided the majority of the spray, but a good amount still managed to end up on her shirt.

"URG!" Hermione shrieked in disgust at her shirt. Fred used the distraction to grab at the wands sticking out of her back pocket, but a second wave of vomit caused Hermione to jump away from him and out of his reach. She took off running to the other side of the room while waving her wand over her clothes to vanish the vomit. Unfortunately the concentration she was using to vanish only the vomit and not her entire shirt distracted her enough that she didn't react in time to the giant couch that suddenly appeared directly in front of her.

"Oof!"

She plowed into the couch and flipped over the back of it. She had so much momentum going from sprinting that she rolled off the seat cushions and fell to the floor on her stomach with a second '_Oof'_. Before she could regain her breath enough to even move she felt the wands slide out of her pocket. Hermione rolled onto her back and saw George standing there panting, having removed the tickling jinx. He glared down at her.

"That wasn't very nice," he said while still breathing heavily and rubbing his side. Hermione grinned back at him.

"I thought you enjoyed laughing?" she asked innocently. George glared at her once more before walking off to go help his friends. Remus had already released James from the _Levicorpus_ spell and removed the silencing charm, leaving James sitting on the floor looking disgruntled. George tossed him his wand and went to go help Sirius who was still running around swatting at the bats coming out of his nose.

With one flick of his wand George removed the curse and with another he removed the silencing charm. Sirius collapsed in a heap on the floor, panting. George handed him his wand and Sirius accepted it.

"Thanks mate," Sirius said gratefully. "That's one nasty curse she's got."

"I'm pretty sure that'd be because my sister taught her that one," Fred said as he joined their group, having eaten the purple half of the candy and stopped his vomiting. George handed him his wand.

"You never want to get on Ginny's back side enough to warrant a Bat Bogey Hex," Fred continued as he vanished chunks of puke from the front of his shirt.

"Alright everyone," Hermione called out to get everyone's attention. "Let's get to work practicing Occlumency shall we? Then tomorrow's meeting can be a review of everything and some team dueling and then we'll see what needs worked on the most from there."

The rest of the meeting was rather uneventful. Everyone was to engage in polite conversation or sit quietly while Snape randomly tried to break through people's mental shields. It was quite draining for Snape and this is where the stipulation for a quiet atmosphere originated. Even James and Sirius respected this wish of Snape's for the return that if he came across anything condemning in their minds that he'd keep it to himself.

It was a huge act of trust on both ends and Hermione was more than pleased to see each side keep their promises. In all actuality there were far less quarrels between the Marauders and Snape than she had ever anticipated. She was rather impressed with their newfound maturity. She hoped that once the war was over and the need to keep up appearances outside of meetings and work together during them ended that they would all continue being civil to one another.

The meeting ended and the Gryffindors all waited in the Room of Requirement while James watched the map to make sure that Snape and Regulus made it safely back to their dorms.

"Alright," James said, several minutes after the Slytherins had left, "They're back and our coast is clear. Let's go."

Everyone got up from their seats and headed to the door. George moved over to Hermione and put his arm around her waist. She looked up at him and smiled. They quickly and quietly made their way back to the tower, James periodically checking the map to make sure no one was headed their way. They made it back without incident and immediately began parting ways to go to their separate dorms.

"G'night George," Hermione called as she headed for the stairs. He caught her arm and gave her a soft kiss before releasing her.

"Night Mione," he said with a grin. She rolled her eyes fondly and made her way up the stairs with a smile. George felt his smile fade once she was out of sight and the frown that had been wanting to showcase itself on his face for some time now settled upon his lips.

"So what did Snape tell you?"

George turned and saw that Fred and Nikki were the only ones left in the common room and both wore concerned looks upon their faces. Fred had been the one to speak.

"Hermione's in danger."

.

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**AN: I realized that it's been awhile since I left you guys with a cliff hanger so here you go. :) You're welcome. I know you really wanted one.**

**REVIEW PLEASE! It will earn my undying love and affection for you all. :) And as always thank you so much to everyone who does review and to anyone else who has taken the time to stick with my stories. :)**


	3. Ch 3: Familiar Faces and Rude Awakenings

**Chapter 3: Familiar Faces and Rude Awakenings**

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"Hermione's in danger."

Fred froze in shock for a minute before taking a deep breath and forcing himself to calm down. Hermione had always been as good as family to the Weasley family, but during the time that George had been kidnapped and with her escalating relationship with his twin she had come to be so much more than that to Fred. She was as much of a sister to him as Ginny was rather than just an honorary Weasley. That and the fact that she made George happier than Fred could alone put her up rather high on Fred's totem pole of important people. Right now she came second only to George himself.

"Explain," Fred said tersely after several moments of heavy silence. George ran a hand roughly through his hair and began pacing as he talked.

"Snape told me that he was approached by several Death Eaters, Slytherins, and that they wanted him in on an attack on Hermione. They said that they wanted to help out Voldemort and get higher up in the chain of command by getting rid of the meddlesome mudblood for him." George practically spat out the last few words with a hateful look upon his face. Fred was sure the look on his, Fred's, face wasn't much more pleasant.

"What'd Snape do?" Nikki asked. Fred blinked. He'd forgotten she was even there. George paused infinitesimally in his pacing showing that he had forgotten as well.

"He told them that he wouldn't be making any drastic moves without Voldemort's orders. If Voldemort didn't explicitly say that he wanted them to kill her then he wasn't going to risk his trust by acting without orders," George said looking disgruntled.

Fred frowned, understanding his twin's predicament. On one hand he was glad that Snape hadn't risked going along with it and getting his cover blown along the way, but at the same time it would have been much easier to protect Hermione with some inside knowledge.

"So what's the plan?" Nikki asked, looking determined. George pulled a face and ran his hand through his hair again.

"I don't have one yet," he admitted. "I know that she sure as hell isn't going anywhere alone anymore; whether it's the library or her dorm room. We'll have to make sure that someone is always there and on guard."

"Of course," Nikki agreed easily. Fred couldn't help but admire how well she was taking this. His stomach was currently a pit of snakes and he could swear he could see George's hands shaking. Nikki seemed completely calm though. She was standing with her feet slightly apart in a battle stance and had a determined gleam in her eye. She didn't show any outward signs of fear or nervousness and Fred couldn't help but be grateful for her presence.

"And we'll check any mail she gets and honestly I'm seriously considering having her eating only in the kitchens from now on to avoid any tampering with her food, but that will be a hard one to explain…" he trailed off in thought.

"You aren't seriously thinking you're not going to tell her?" Nikki suddenly asked in a hard voice. George looked slightly ashamed and rubbed the back of his neck without looking at either Fred or Nikki.

"Well…" he started feebly.

"Well nothing," Nikki interrupted looking fierce. "If you don't tell her then you'll be putting her in even more danger. She needs to know that she's in danger so she'll be on her guard. That's not something you hide from someone in a misplaced attempt to protect them. I'm sure you've noticed that Hermione in particular is a very independent person. It'll drive her crazy to have someone around all the time.

"And if she doesn't know the reason behind it she's going to slip away to get some privacy and that will be very bad. Also, Hermione's not stupid. She's going to know something's up and then when the truth comes out, not to mention the fact that you hid it from her, she's going to be hurt and upset."

George was still examining his shoes in shame. The look on his face spoke volumes of his fear for Hermione and his indecision on what route would be best to take to ensure her safety while trying to keep her away from the worry and stress that came from knowing.

"She's right, George," Fred said softly. George looked up at his brother with one of the saddest looks Fred had ever seen on his brother's face. There was misery and desperation coupled with a healthy dose of fear.

"I'm-, I'm trying, Fred," George said in a choked voice. "I need to protect her. I need to keep her safe."

Fred didn't hesitate to step forward and grab George in a tight hug. George clung back desperately, hiding his face in his brother's shoulder as he tried to maintain control. Fred kept his grip tight and neither spoke for a few minutes.

"We're in this together, Georgie. All of us. Don't try to handle this on your own," Fred murmured gently. George took a deep steadying breath and then nodded. Fred gave him one more hard squeeze before stepping back, but keeping his hands on George's shoulders and looking him in the eye.

"Alright?" he asked concernedly. George managed to produce a half smile.

"'M alright," he assured his brother.

"Good," Fred said, regaining his usual loud, confident manner and clapping George on the shoulder before stepping back to a comfortable talking distance. "Because we have a plan to make. Room of Requirement?" he asked.

George nodded, looking calmer after Fred's intervention. Nikki nodded as well and then glanced towards the stairs to her dorm.

"Yeah, just give me a minute to let the girls know that I won't be up for a bit so they don't worry. I'll tell them you two requested my assistance in your grand final prank for Hogwarts," she said with a wink before turning and jogging up the staircase.

Fred grinned after her. She was a quick thinker. She'd make a wonderful prankster if she'd just let him corrupt her. Fred turned and saw George giving him a knowing smirk. Fred glared at him, but had no witty comment to offer as an explanation for the grin still tugging his cheeks.

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Fred, George, and Nikki were all slumped on one couch and physically and mentally exhausted. They'd been working on a safety plan for Hermione for what was now going on three hours and seeing as they'd already been out quite late for the meeting, it was now considered scandalously late; or early depending on how you looked at it. Nikki rubbed her eyes tiredly from her position on the left side of the couch where she was slumped against Fred.

"So we ask the house elves to prepare the 7th year girl's our own breakfast and have it sent up at 8:30am," she began listing their plan for the following day tiredly. "Then before lunch George breaks the news to Hermione while Fred and I break the news to everyone else at the same time, but somewhere else so Hermione has her privacy. Then George brings Hermione up and we discuss the safety plan and the rotation schedule. Then for lunch we all go to the kitchens and get food directly from the house elves and the same for dinner. Hermione has a perpetual escort no matter where she goes, whether it's to the loo or to bed."

"Sounds about right," Fred said through a yawn with his arm casually about Nikki's shoulders.

"Is it enough?" George asked anxiously from his end of the couch where he was turned facing Fred and Nikki, his legs crossed pretzel style and his back against the armrest and his head bowed down in his hands. Fred squeezed his knee reassuringly.

"We'll make it be enough," Fred said simply. "No one is going to take her safety for granted. She's too important to the war; to us. If Voldemort wants her dead, he'll have to go through all of us first." George nodded, but still looked worried.

"We should get to bed," George said tiredly. He straightened up and arched his back backwards while stretching his arms high above his head. Fred nodded silently and nudged Nikki. She groaned and sat up rubbing her face.

"Dare I even ask how much sleep we're going to get today?" she questioned. Fred glanced at his watched and grimaced.

"Maybe 4 hours if you can fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow."

"Shouldn't be a problem," George said through a yawn. "Godric I'm tired."

"I still need to make a stop at the kitchens about breakfast," Nikki grumbled as she rose from the couch and stretched her aching muscles with a groan. "There's no way I'm going to be able to wake up early to talk to the house elves about it."

"I'll come with you," Fred offered. "You shouldn't be out on your own this late-, er-, early I mean." George frowned at them in concern.

"I'll come too," he offered. Nikki shook her head.

"No, you should both go get some sleep. I'll be alright." Fred and George were already shaking their heads before she had finished talking.

"There'll be no shaking us off Nikki darling," Fred said as he draped an arm around her shoulders and steered her to the door, George on his other side. "We're in this together."

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Nikki yawned tiredly on the couch in the Room of Requirement. The morning had gone as planned. The girls had been delighted at the surprise breakfast in the dorm. Nikki had gone and fetched Lily from her Head's Dorm and they had made a bit of a girly party out of the meal. No one had questioned Nikki's quiet uneasiness once Nikki had claimed that she was just tired after staying up too late with Fred and George; which was the truth after all.

Now they were all gathered in the Room of Requirement, with the exception of Hermione and George. Nikki had given the duty of making the announcement to Fred while she sat half comatose on the couch. He was currently explaining all that Snape had overheard and what Snape had said in return. Nikki tuned him out. Instead she watched people's faces. It was an old pass time of hers that helped her learn more about people other than just what they displayed on the surface.

Fred and George were always interesting to watch. They often tried to disguise their true feelings with humor or their obnoxious behavior, and they were good at it. But there were times when the mask would slip, when they thought no one was watching. Yesterday for instance, they had both tried to pretend that nothing was wrong after George talked with Snape, and someone not looking for it would have missed the signs that something was off. But Nikki noticed.

She noticed how Fred's smile and laugh never quite reached his eyes. She noticed that his eyes had a slightly distant look to them; like even when he was cracking jokes and acting the fool it was a cover for the deep thoughts racing through his mind. George was slightly better at hiding his feelings, or maybe Nikki could just read Fred better. She had watched George intently and hadn't noticed anything was off until he had been forced into being quiet by Hermione's silencing spell. It was then that he had trouble hiding his concerns behind his humorous façade.

Nikki was sure that if everyone else hadn't been preoccupied with the discussion they would have noticed as well. His eyes had an almost haunted look to them and she had seen him literally shake himself out of his dark thoughts more than once. Without his ability to laugh and joke, George Weasley became an open book. Fred wasn't much better, but he seemed more focused on being the silent support for his brother than trying to deal with his own thoughts.

Nikki looked around the room. There was a distinct aura of fear, but also one of resolve and determination. This group wasn't going down without a fight and they'd be damned if they were going to allow a few Dark Lord side-kick wannabes take one of their own. Nikki permitted a small proud smile to form on her lips as she surveyed the group that she had come to trust explicitly over the last few months.

Her gaze turned to Fred who was seated beside her. He had apparently finished speaking and was staring off into the distance with troubled eyes and a frown. Nikki slid her hand over to his and gave it a squeeze. He blinked and looked down at their hands first and then her face. She smiled faintly. He smiled back and laced his fingers through hers as he relaxed into his seat and closed his eyes.

The door to the room opened. Nikki watched as Fred tensed and his eyes flew open as he turned to the door. She felt his fingers twitch involuntarily towards his pocket when suddenly he relaxed again as he saw Hermione and George enter the room and shut the door behind them. It all happened in less than a second and it gave Nikki more insight on how this was affecting Fred. She turned her attention to the couple that had just entered and scrutinized Hermione carefully.

Hermione's eyes were not red-rimmed as though she had been crying. She was not clinging to George in fear looking for protection. What Nikki did see made her lips twitch again into that proud smile.

Hermione entered the room with her back straight and her head held high. She walked at George's side without hesitation in her steps. Her face was calm and almost impassive, but there was steel in her eyes. He eyes blazed with a fierce determination that radiated from her being. Nikki couldn't have been more proud to call this strong witch her friend. She caught George's eye and smiled. He grinned back, a proud light shining from his eyes as he turned his gaze back to Hermione.

"So George said there was a plan. Let's hear it," Hermione said as she took a seat.

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Hermione frowned in thought while she mentally reviewed the plan George, Fred, and Nikki had come up with. It was a good plan, if a little stifling. She only found one major flaw. There was just one thing she felt needed to be changed.

"We can't avoid meals in the Great Hall," she told them. George immediately opened his mouth to argue, but Hermione held up her hand.

"No George, I understand, really I do. They're Slytherins and they're sneaky and not into face-to-face confrontation. If I wanted to get to someone, the best way would definitely be through poisoned food or drink. It's hard to trace, you can easily have an alibi, and easy to do with no witnesses."

"Then why-?" George started.

"Think about Severus," Hermione interrupted him. "They know he knows their ultimate plan. It would be very suspicious if the day after he refused to take part in their plan I suddenly stop showing up to meals and constantly have a guard around me. They would know that he not only told us, but that he's on our side. We can't risk him. He's too important."

"We can't risk you either!" George said heatedly. Hermione turned to face him and grasped his hand within her own.

"Yes we can, George. We need Severus. We don't have Harry this time to see inside Voldemort's head so we need the next best thing; a spy. For the sake of the outcome of the war we can risk this."

"_I _can't risk you," George whispered to their hands, his voice breaking. Hermione's gaze softened. She placed her index finger under George's chin and tipped his face back up to look at her. Everyone else in the room turned away slightly from what they gathered was about to become a personal conversation.

"You can do this George. There are spells I can use to check for potions in my food and drinks. I'll be alright," she said gently. George looked doubtful.

"How do you know?"

Hermione smiled. "Because I have you. I know that you won't let anything happen to me. I trust you." George smiled sadly.

"What if I can't keep you safe?" he asked fearfully, barely above a whisper.

"Then I'll fight with everything I have to make it back to you," Hermione replied just as quietly.

"But what if… What if you don't… What if they win?" he asked desperately. Hermione shook her head.

"They won't win. As long as even just one person continues to fight they haven't won."

"You know what I mean Hermione," George said in a strained voice. "I can't do it again. After Fred… I _can't_."

Hermione held his face in between her palms. "Then you'll have to fight for me. And after the fighting is over you'll have to live for me George." George shook his head.

"I don't know if I can," he whispered with a cracking voice as he held his tears at bay.

"You're strong George. You'll make it out of this with me or without me. No, listen," she insisted as he tried to pull his face away from her hands to shake his head in denial. "You will. I know you will, because you have an optimism and a thirst for life like very few people do and I love you for it. You're stronger than you think."

"I still don't think-,"

"George," Hermione interrupted. "Take a look around this room," she insisted, dropped her hands from his face and threading her fingers in between his instead.

"Anyone in this room would die for any one of us. Unlike Voldemort we have an alliance formed on love and friendship whereas he has an army built on bribery and fear. We will always be there for each other, through good and bad. Should we lose someone we will rally and we will fight with more force and more strength than ever before.

"That is the power of love; the power the Dark Lord knows not. We cannot be stopped. So long as we love, we will always have something to live for and to die for. If I have to die for you I can accept that and I hope that you can accept that it was my choice to die for my loved ones, should it come to that."

George swallowed and seemed to be struggling to get the words out.

"I know-, I know that. I just… I love you, Hermione. I don't know how I'll go on without you," he mumbled to his lap. Hermione sighed.

"I love you too, George. More than anything. If something happens to you…" she paused as tears came unbidden into her eyes. "I don't know what I'll do. I really don't. I try not to think about it, because honestly it scares me like nothing else does. But the one thought that consoles me, if only slightly, is that if you… go, then at least you're spared the pain of being left behind again. And I would proudly carry that pain for you if it meant that you didn't have to go through it again," she confessed. George stared at her for a moment and then grabbed her and crushed her to his chest in a rib cracking embraced. Hermione clutched at him just as tightly.

"Please be careful," he whispered desperately in her ear.

"I will," she vowed.

"Don't do anything rash. Don't do anything Harry would do," he continued. Hermione smiled into his shirt.

"Of course not," she confirmed.

"Be safe."

"I promise."

"Pinky swear?" he asked. Hermione chuckled slightly and the tears she had been holding back overflowed down her cheeks leaving a single trail down each cheek.

"Pinky swear."

George loosened his grip on her enough to find her pinky and wrap his around it. Hermione used her other hand to wipe her cheeks. She leaned forward and kissed first George's left cheek and then his right. He released her pinky from his and she cupped his face between her palms again before pressing a kiss to his forehead. Then she kissed him hard on the lips.

"You be careful too," she ordered as she broke away. George grinned faintly at her.

"Pinky swear."

"Are you going to be okay?" Hermione asked concernedly as she smoothed his hair. George took a deep shaky breath and nodded.

"Yeah. I just won't let those bastards get near enough to hurt you," he said with a bare grin. Hermione smiled back.

"There's my George," she said softly before pressing one last hard kiss to his lips. She leaned back, but before she could get too far George wrapped his arm around her shoulders and drew her to his side. She smiled as she snuggled up beside her boyfriend.

"Alright," Hermione said to the room at large. Everyone turned back to her, away from their own quiet conversations they had started in order to give her and George their privacy. Hermione smiled fondly at them.

"So let's all agree here and now to act as though nothing is wrong. We need to make everyone believe that nothing is different from yesterday. That means that sometimes there will only be one person with me. We can't have everyone circle me in a mob at all times. We can't risk blowing Severus's cover," she said firmly. Everyone nodded even though they didn't look entirely happy about it.

"Okay good," Hermione said briskly. "Other than those things it's a good plan. I think there is one more thing we could add though." Everyone looked interested.

"We should involve Healer Davis," she said eagerly. "This would be a good way to test his dedication and loyalty to us. We can have him come on his days off and tail me with James's invisibility cloak or maybe even tail the Slytherins we know are involved."

Fred and George's eyebrows both rose. They had almost forgotten about him. Hermione smiled around at everyone as their expressions ranged from impressed to doubtful.

"Are you sure this is a good thing to test him with?" Nikki asked tentatively. Sirius nodded his doubt as well.

"I think it's the safest thing we can test him with," Hermione answered. "I mean think about it. All of us will be here and on our guard. We're surrounded by people that could be witnesses whereas in a week we will be spending the majority of our time in the middle of nowhere. We're right under Dumbledore's nose. He'd be a fool to do anything to us."

Nikki nodded. "Okay, you're right. I'd rather it be now than later. How do we get ahold of him?" she asked.

"I gave him a fake galleon like we used in the D.A. so that we wouldn't have to risk owl mail," she said as she pulled a coin out of her pocket. Remus's eyes shot up when he saw her coin.

"You've been carrying that around with you waiting to talk to him?" he asked. Hermione smiled.

"No. It's just become a habit over the years to just always have it on me, just in case."

"Us too," Fred and George said as they pulled theirs from their respective pockets. Hermione grinned at them and they both smiled back.

"Maybe I should get coins for you guys too. They worked rather well for us," Hermione said contemplatively to the room at large. She received numerous eager nods. "Alright, that'll be my project for this last week that we're here then."

"Any objections to informing Davis now?" she asked as she held up her coin. No one said anything so Hermione took it as a green light. She tapped the coin with her wand and felt it grow warm in her hand.

"Alright, so assuming he has actually kept his coin on him he should be here in time for out midnight meeting later tonight. In the meantime, I have been toying with an idea in my mind about RAMS," she said slowly as she gathered her thoughts.

"And?" Sirius prompted curiously when she paused for too long.

"Well I was thinking about all of the controversy after the first war in our time over who was a Death Eater and who wasn't. And how Sirius, you spent _12 years_ in Azkaban as an innocent man. I would hate for anything like that to happen this time around. So I was thinking that we need some kind of mark… a tattoo of some kind to distinguish us as a part of our alliance. And especially for Snape. He has the Dark Mark, but he is pivotal to us coming out on top and it would only be right to make sure that after the war it is clear that he was a spy," she said as she eyed them tentatively.

She hated the idea of marking them and it was mostly because that was what Voldemort did to his supporters. She didn't want to brand her friends like cattle, but if it kept them safe after the war it might be worth it.

"It'll have to be very discrete, yet unmistakable," Lily said. Hermione beamed at her for so readily going with her idea.

"I agree," she said. "I was thinking something like two black ram horns, each about half an inch long and located somewhere like the bottom of your foot; somewhere people won't look often." Lily nodded her agreement and Alice joined.

"That sounds perfect actually," Alice said.

"Yeah," James agreed as well, "We'll have to keep the tattoos an absolute secret until the war is over so that the Death Eaters don't know what to look for to identify us."

"Is there a way we can learn how to magically do it ourselves so that we don't have to involve any outside people?" Remus asked.

"I can research that while Hermione works out those coins for us," Nikki offered.

"Ooo! I wanna be the one who gets to do everyone's tattoos!" Fred said excitedly.

"And I'll do yours for you!" George said with a grin.

"I don't trust either of you to do mine!" Sirius exclaimed.

Hermione couldn't help the wide smile that stretched her cheeks as all of her friends immediately latched onto her idea and helped make it possible. Don't misunderstand, she loves Harry and Ron and always will, but it was incredibly refreshing to just have an idea be instantly accepted and expanded rather than have doubt cast upon it before leaving her to work out the technicalities.

George pulled her closer and she smiled up at him. He leaned down and kissed her nose before going back to arguing with Fred and Sirius over who was more trustworthy to be leaving permanent images embedded in people's skin.

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George breathed deeply in his half-awake state and Hermione's scent flooded his senses. He smiled sleepily to himself as his thoughts drifted to the wonderful witch he was sleeping against. They had been waiting for the start of the meeting when Nikki and Fred had fallen asleep together after struggling through the day on only three and a half hours of sleep. George had barely been managing to stay awake himself when Hermione convinced him to rest his head in her lap while she read.

After that he had not lasted long before drifting off into dream world. And what sweet dreams they were… Now though something was bringing him back to the waking world and he wasn't going willingly. He groaned and rolled over, pressing his face into Hermione's sweater.

"George! Stop that! You need to wake up. The others will be here any minute."

George groaned again. All he wanted to do was sleep. Why was that so much to ask for?

"George wake up or I'm going to push you to the floor. Don't think I won't!"

George was pretty sure he was hearing an angel speaking to him, but he couldn't get his sleep fogged brain to concentrate on the words enough to figure out what was being said. But that was alright. It was lovely just to listen to.

"I'm warning you! Three… Two… One!"

"Oof! Bloody hell!" George exclaimed from the floor in front of the couch as he rubbed his tailbone. "What was that for?"

Hermione smirked at him from her seat on the couch while laughter rang throughout the room.

"I warned you," she said.

"I was _asleep_!" George protested. Hermione shrugged with a small amused smile and went back to her book. George made his way to his feet, grumbling, when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

"What the hell? How come they get to sleep still?" he demanded indignantly, gesturing at the still spooning and sound asleep Fred and Nikki. Hermione glanced up at the sleeping couple for a brief moment before going back to her book.

"They're cute," she said simply. George sputtered nonsensically, looking between his girlfriend and the pair sound asleep on the couch.

"Oh so I'm not cute?" George demanded.

"My leg fell asleep," Hermione informed him without looking up. George's jaw dropped in disbelief.

"So you threw me to the floor?!"

Hermione shrugged and tried to hide her blooming grin.

"It worked."

George stood there and fumed for another minute before turning and approaching Fred and Nikki's sleeping forms. He vaguely noted the door to the room opening and glanced over to see who was here. It was Snape, Regulus, and Davis. George barely spared them a glance long enough to notice Davis stop in his tracks and stare wide-eyed at Fred and Nikki.

"Oy you gits, get up!" George called loudly to Fred and Nikki while poking both of them rather hard. Fred grimaced in his sleep and half-heartedly swatted at George's hand. Nikki groaned and tried to get away by snuggling closer to Fred and moaning.

"I just got dumped on the floor as a wakeup call and if you two don't start showing signs of life I'll do the same to you without a hint of remorse!" George threatened. Neither of them moved.

"Fine," George said. He flicked his wand and the entire couch upended itself and dumped its occupants onto the floor.

"What the hell?" Nikki shouted.

"You bloody wanker," Fred cursed at the same time as her shout.

"Serves you both right," George said grumpily as he returned their couch to the floor and threw himself onto the sofa beside Hermione. He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at the room in general.

"Ugh," Fred groaned as he picked himself up off the floor and helped Nikki up also. "Who woke up George in a less than pleasant way? He's going to be bloody unbearable."

"I did," Hermione answered at the same time George grumbled,

"Deal with it."

"Granger, you have a lot to learn still," Fred said with a shake of his head while he lowered himself onto the couch. Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by a loud gasp of shock.

Nikki was white as a sheet staring at Davis with a mixture of astonishment and stark fear. Fred noticed and immediately leapt to his feet with his wand out and stepped in front of her. This seemed to snap Nikki out of her shock. She whipped her wand out of her pocket and shoved Fred to the side so he was no longer in her way.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded viciously.

"N-Nikki?" Davis asked looking astounded. "But-, But…"

"I said WHO are YOU?" Nikki demanded.

Snape and Regulus quickly moved away from Davis and stood behind Nikki and Fred with the rest of the group who were now on their feet and all had their wands out and raised. Davis blinked at her some more, looking like he was struggling to comprehend something huge.

"I-, It's me, Danny," he stuttered finally. "But how… I don't underst-,"

"How dare you," Nikki hissed, her face reddening in her rage. "How DARE you! My brother is _dead_! You can't be-," Davis was shaking his head rapidly.

"No, no _you're_ dead," he said looking utterly bewildered. "Vivian… mother, she said… she said… But of course," he babbled, realization dawning on his face.

"I'm such a _fool_," he berated himself looking exceptionally upset. "I believed her. I never should have. Not without proof. I can't believe… And you've been at Hogwarts this whole time-," He suddenly stopped speaking and his face drained of all color leaving it a sickly white. He looked horrified.

"You've been with _her_," he gasped out in horror. "Oh Merlin. I left you-, Oh shit Nikki. I left you there. Alone. Fuck. Nikki-," he started towards her, but was immediately stopped.

"YOU STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!" Nikki hollered forcefully as she brandished her wand at him. "I want to know what's going on! Mother told me that my brother was killed by Voldemort when he refused to join him." Davis looked pained, but stayed put.

"She did try to get me to join him. The year I graduated, she said if I didn't join him then he'd kill you. I- I said no. I thought that if I could get you away fast enough we could run away and- and be safe," he voice cracked and he seemed to be fighting tears.

"You never came home. She told me that he took you from the platform and killed you and that there wasn't a body left to bury once they were done. She tried to get me to join again and I said no. She attacked me, she tried to kill me, but I got away. I changed my name, I got a job as a healer, and I've felt so guilty. I thought you were dead and it was all my fault." His voice broke again and he lost his fight against the tears and they washed down his cheeks. Nikki stared at him nervously still. She wasn't sure she believed he was genuine.

"That was the summer that mother took me straight to the vacation home from the station. A few weeks later after I kept asking after you she told me you were dead, killed by Voldemort," she whispered quietly.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" she suddenly demanded, her eyes hardening. "Merlin knows, I've been lied to enough in my life."

Davis only had to think for a few seconds before he came up with an answer. He quietly began humming a tune. Everyone in the room looked at him like he'd gone mad except for Nikki and Fred. Fred's jaw had dropped and Nikki's wand began shaking as her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Then both Nikki and Davis began to sing.

"Lean on me, when you're not strong. And I'll be your friend. I'll help you carry on. For it won't be long, 'til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on."

"Oh Danny," Nikki sobbed as she lowered her wand. Davis then rushed forward and swept her up in his embrace.

"Nikki, I'm so sorry," he said while holding her tight. "I left you there. All this time… I'm so sorry." Nikki sniffed and wiped at her eyes.

"It's not your fault. She tricked both of us. And I was only there for about a year without you. I ran away to Alice's after the first week of being there the summer before 4th year," she explained. Davis shook his head.

"That's still too long," he said. "When I think of everything she could do to you…" he ended with a shudder. Nikki looked away and avoided eye contact. Davis stiffened and his face grew hard.

"What did she do to you?" he demanded quietly, inspecting her face. Nikki opened her mouth and then closed it again and shook her head silently, all the while avoiding eye contact.

"Later," she muttered.

Davis frowned in concern and looked up past her as though one of the others would explain it to him. His eyes connected with Fred's. Fred looked incredibly grim which was odd for the healer as he had only seen Fred happy and playful. Davis opened his mouth to talk, but Fred shook his head slightly and nodded toward Nikki. Davis frowned, but dropped the subject for the time being.

"Well are you going to introduce me to everyone or what?" Davis asked Nikki, obviously trying to lighten the tone. Nikki smiled thankfully at him before stepping out of the hug and gesturing towards him.

"Everyone this is my previously thought dead brother, Danny, or Dan I suppose. Danny, you know Lily and Alice, that's James, Sirius, and Remus, and apparently you already know Hermione, Fred, and George or you wouldn't be here, and this is Regulus and Sn- Severus."

She pointed out each individual as she went along. Dan nodded politely to everyone and once she was done leveled a stern gaze at Fred who blinked in surprise.

"So should I be giving you the big brother talk now, or behind closed doors?" he asked seriously.

"Er- What?" Fred asked, clearly confused. George started snickering. Dan raised an eyebrow.

"You were looking pretty cozy with my baby sister when I walked in."

"Danny-," Nikki tried to cut in with a frown.

"So do you want the talk now or later?" Dan continued over Nikki. Fred blinked in bewilderment.

"Oh!" Fred exclaimed, finally cottoning on. "Why does everyone always assume that we're dating?" He asked, suddenly looking irritated.

"Because you two act like it," George said.

"Because you're perfect for each other," Alice said at the same time.

Nikki and Fred traded disbelieving glances.

"We're just friends," they said simultaneously. Snorts of disbelief suddenly sounded throughout the room accompanied by several loud coughs that sound suspiciously like the word, 'denial'. Fred glared around at everyone.

"Oh come off it. Aren't you guys done with this yet?" he demanded.

"We'll be done believing you're in denial when you pull your head out of your arse and ask her out," George said with a grin. Fred scowled at his twin.

"Then I guess you're stuck being delusional, because we're just friends and that's all we want to be, right Nik?" Fred asked.

"Yep," Nikki agreed.

Dan's eyebrows shot up his forehead.

"You let him call you Nik? You never let me call you Nik," he said in disbelief, glancing briefly at George's smug grin. Nikki blinked and flushed slightly.

"Case and point!" George declared obnoxiously. "Do you wanna place your bet on when they'll get together? Everyone else already has."

Both Fred and Nikki turned to stare at George in disbelief.

"You're betting on us _again_?!" Fred exclaimed. George nodded happily, ignoring the death glares he was receiving from the pair.

"Of course!" he replied. "Sirius lost months ago, but the rest of us are still in the running. So Dan, you want in?"

"No!" Nikki exclaimed before Dan could respond. "My brother will not be taking part in this! It's ridiculous! You're all betting on nothing anyway. We're just really good friends!"

"_Really_ good friends," Sirius said with a suggestive eyebrow waggle. Nikki glared at him as she snuck her wand out of her pocket and gave it a forceful flick in his direction. Sirius stared in horror as his hair departed from his head and fluttered to the floor, leaving behind his shiny, bald scalp. Fred began laughing uproariously and Nikki quickly joined in.

"Brilliant!" Fred exclaimed as he and Nikki slapped high fives. Sirius gathered up his hair and looked to be on the verge of tears.

"Oh calm down Padfoot," Remus said, rolling his eyes. "It grows back." With a flick of his wand, Remus had hair shooting out of Sirius's scalp until it reached its former length at his shoulders. Sirius grabbed fistfuls of his hair and pulled it to his face as though he was testing that it was real.

"Oh thank you Moony!" he exclaimed before throwing himself at Remus and hugging the life out of him.

"Get off you mangy mutt!" Remus cried out, shoving at Sirius.

"Speaking of past bets," Lily said with a twinkle in her eye. "How did that massage and home cooked meal turn out Hermione?" she asked, ignoring George's frantic slashes across his throat. Hermione scowled.

"Terrible. I'd rather not talk about it," she grumbled.

"Mione it wasn't that bad-," George tried to reassure her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Hermione raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"I gave you food poisoning George! How is that not bad?" she asked. Fred immediately busted up laughing. George and Hermione both glared at him and flicked their wands. Fred immediately started gagging as his tongue glued itself to the roof of his mouth and his earlobes grew to the floor. Hermione and George smirked at each other in satisfaction and resumed their seat together on the sofa.

"So anyway, back to business," Hermione said, ignoring Fred's frantic arm motions meant to get her to remove the tongue locking charm. He had managed to turn his ears back to normal, but seemed to be having trouble with his tongue. Fred stomped up in front of her and gestured first to her wand and then to his mouth. Hermione blinked up at him innocently.

"Sorry Fred, did you need something?" she asked sweetly. Fred scowled at her.

"Oh you're not familiar with the Prince's work?" she asked with a smirk. Fred glared at her and then stomped over to Snape. Snape glanced over at Hermione who just shrugged. He rolled his eyes and performed the counter curse.

"If you're all quite finished with your nonsense can we get to the point of why we're here?" he snapped grumpily. Hermione smiled at him.

"Of course Sev," she replied warmly. She then proceeded to fill Dan and Regulus in on what had happened and what they were planning to do about it. Dan looked concerned while Regulus simply nodded and listened quietly.

"So Dan, we were thinking that you could follow me around under the invisibility cloak and keep an eye out for trouble. Like when I go to the library alone or something-,"

"You will not be going anywhere alone Hermione," George interrupted. Hermione turned to look at him.

"But I wouldn't really be alone. Dan would be there," she said in confusion. George remained unconvinced.

"Right. But… I mean the song thing was cute and all, but how do we really know it's him? I mean it could be another trap by their mother," he pointed out.

"It's him," Fred said firmly. George blinked at his brother in surprise and raised an eyebrow. They communicated silently for a few moments and then George nodded.

"Alright," he said out loud. "So he can be our invisible support to Hermione when she goes out alone to keep up appearances. And when he has to work then one of us can go under it."

Everyone agreed. They quickly finalized their plans and then decided to call it a night, forgoing their training for the evening. Nikki was staying behind to bond with her brother and catch each other up on their lives. Fred gave her a tight hug goodbye and whispered in her ear.

"You want me to wait up for you?"

Nikki hesitated and then nodded.

"Please?" she asked softly.

"Course," Fred agreed easily. "You'll be alright?" he asked. She nodded, but said nothing. Fred then went over to Dan and stuck out his hand. Dan grabbed it and gave it a firm shake.

"Nice to meet you properly," Fred said with a teasing grin. Dan laughed.

"Agreed."

"Be careful with her alright," Fred said in a quiet, serious tone as he watched Nikki from the corner of his eye to make sure she didn't overhear.

"It's bad?" Dan asked with a hard face. Fred nodded, his eyes pained.

"Really bad. Just don't push her okay?" he asked. "She'll tell you when she's ready." Dan studied him for a minute before answering.

"Alright. But if she doesn't tell me and something comes up that puts her in danger and I need to know, you'll tell me?" he asked. Fred thought about it before nodding.

"If it keeps her safe I'll tell you," he agreed. "But I only know so much. She doesn't share easy you know?" Dan nodded. "But I reckon I know more than anyone else here."

"Thanks," Dan told him sincerely. Fred nodded and moved off towards the door. He gave Nikki one last hug before he left.

"See you later," he murmured in her ear.

"You don't have to wait if you don't want to," she responded. "It'll be awhile."

"I want to," Fred said firmly. Nikki grinned at him.

"Thanks, you're the best."

"I know," he responded with a cocky grin. Nikki grinned and punched his shoulder.

"Now you crazy kids don't do anything I wouldn't do," Fred said loudly with a wink as he backed to the door. Nikki snorted.

"That still leaves a rather extensive list of what we can do," she responded with a grin. Fred grinned back.

"I'm practicing for being the fun uncle," he confessed. "With the way George and Hermione are going they'll be married and have a kid on the way before New Year's." Nikki rolled her eyes.

"Poor Hermione," she lamented.

"Poor _George_," Fred corrected. "He's going to be the one getting yelled at for what his devastatingly handsome twin gets his kids to do." Nikki laughed.

"Oh you're right. Poor George," she agreed, shaking her head. Fred grinned at her one last time and then exited the room, leaving Nikki alone to talk with her brother.

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**AN: REVIEWS PLEASE!**


	4. Ch 4: Kidnapped!

**Disclaimer: It's not mine and blah, blah, blah.**

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**Chapter 4: Kidnapped**

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The door clanged shut behind Fred and an awkward silence hung heavily in the air between the newly reunited siblings. Nikki shuffled her feet, uncharacteristically unsure of what she should do in this situation. She glanced at Danny from the corner of her vision and scowled internally. He hadn't stopped staring at her since he entered the room and it was beginning to grate on her nerves. She sighed to herself and decided to go ahead and grab a seat. It was shaping up to be another long night.

She flopped back onto the couch she and Fred had previously claimed and tried to ignore the gaze she felt following her every move. Her eyes closed as she tipped her head back against the backrest and her body sagged in exhaustion. She was simply not cut out for functioning on such little sleep. She had always needed a good nine to ten hours of sleep to feel well rested so the measly three hours or so that she had gotten the night before had her feeling like a zombie.

"I still can't believe it's you."

"I know."

Danny had broken the silence, but Nikki couldn't even find the energy to lift her head or open her eyes as she answered, let alone expound on the simple sentence. They quickly fell back into silence. Nikki thought that if the silence hadn't felt so uncomfortable she might have been able to fall asleep. But alas, her life couldn't just be that simple. She had to deal with an evil mother and a brother who miraculously returned from the dead. Usually she could take surprises in stride, but this was proving to be too much.

She had grieved this man who now stood before her. She had shed billions of tears over his death. The anguish she felt had been equal to someone ripping her heart straight from her chest and cruelly making her walk around with the gaping wound. She had taken to cutting herself over his death just to ease the pain of his sudden absence from her life and it had turned out to be all for naught. It was a sucker punch to the gut when she least expected it and it left her gasping for breath as she tried to adjust to the latest blow life had dealt her.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

Nikki cracked an eye open as she examined the vaguely familiar face standing a few feet in front of her. She sighed in her head and opened her other eye and sat up after she took in his hurt and worried expression. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, one hand cupping her chin and the other toying with a strand of hair distractedly.

"I don't know," she told him honestly.

She briefly saw the pain flash across her brother's face before he shuttered his expression to keep her from reading his emotions. Seeing that closed look upon her brother's face and directed at her hurt more than Nikki had anticipated. It was not surprising that Danny was still able to close off his thoughts and emotions as well as ever (he had been a Slytherin after all), but never before had he shut _her_ out. Sometimes he had tried to hide his fear from her when they were younger and things had been particularly bad, but he had never completely shut her out as she had seen him do to many others. She supposed she deserved it though. He used to be the only one that she could be completely honest with and now she couldn't bring herself to tell him; at least not tonight.

"But you told Fred?" he asked. His face was blank, but Nikki could sense the pain behind the question. She hesitated.

"Well… I told him some and he found out the rest, but yes, he knows most of it," she admitted. Danny studied her face carefully.

"How did he find out then?"

Nikki sighed and gestured for Danny to take a seat before she began telling her brother the story of how George came to be in the hospital. Danny sat and listened quietly, but Nikki could see his jaw was tight and his fists were clenched. A fire smoldered hotly in his eyes. She finished the story with Peter's death and Danny stood from his seat and began pacing the length of her couch with a deep frown etched into his face. He cursed under his breath.

"There's no use getting all worked up about it now," Nikki told him. She was confused as to why he was acting the way he was. "It's over." He shook his head and then came to an abrupt stop in front of her.

"No. It's not. It's far from over," he said grimly. Nikki frowned.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Danny laughed morbidly.

"You lot just insulted our mother and Bellatrix Lestrange, not to mention further angering Voldemort," he exclaimed heatedly, wanting her to understand the gravity of the situation.

"Bellatrix?" Nikki asked.

"Yes," Danny confirmed. "George was her plaything, her little torture dummy, and she wanted to kill him and you all took away that opportunity. I'm sure she sees it as a personal insult and is itching for revenge."

Nikki grimaced. Bellatrix was mad, everyone knew that. To have her out for your blood was not a desirable experience.

"Great," she muttered. Danny voiced his agreement.

"Do you guys have plans for after you graduate?" Danny asked. "Somewhere safe to live, I mean. You've all shown your faces to Voldemort and he knows you're against him. You'll need to stay somewhere safe." Nikki nodded and told him all about their plans for Headquarters. Danny agreed that the plans were solid and then suddenly they ran out of neutral topics to talk about. They fell into a long silence while awkwardness circled them like grey smoke.

"Well I'm off to bed," Nikki said abruptly as she rose from her seat and stretched.

"Of course," Danny instantly agreed while jumping to his feet. He escorted her to the Gryffindor common room and they departed there with his promise to come by again to watch out for Hermione on his next day off. Nikki shut the portrait behind her with an exhausted sigh and then set about looking for Fred. Her first glance around the room turned up no one, but upon taking a closer look she discovered Fred snoring on the couch facing the fireplace. She smiled fondly and then conjured a blanket to drape over him. He shifted slightly as the blanket settled over him, but stayed fast asleep.

"Night Fred," she barely whispered before lightly brushing a kiss against his forehead and heading for her dorm. There would be plenty of time for talking tomorrow. For tonight they all could use some sleep.

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|4|~*~|4|

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The week had passed rather uneventfully and they were all glad it was over. The constant stress and tension had been draining. Hermione in particular had been at the end of her rope for days now and was craving some alone time. Everyone was relieved to finally board the Hogwarts Express and begin their journey to London and relative safety.

Dan had seen them off in Hogsmead (invisibly of course) just to be safe and now they were sharing a compartment and chatting amicably while the stress of the past week slide from their shoulders leaving them feeling free and slightly silly. James was especially silly seeing as he was not used to having such anxiety in his life and Sirius was matching him.

The pair had been going on for the past hour about the final prank they, Fred, and George had jointly pulled. Imagine millions of bouncy balls of all sizes bouncing all over Hogwarts; the stairs, the entrance hall, the Great Hall, the common rooms, the corridors. You get the idea. Currently they were lamenting the fact that they hadn't added something more to the prank, like balls that targeted certain people, such as the Slytherins and bounced repeatedly off their skulls. Fred shook his head at their antics.

Honestly, he hadn't cared much about the final prank. Well that is to say that he cared about it as much as any other prank, but not more. He and George had already pulled their final prank after all and it had been unforgettable. He turned his head to share a smirk with his twin and frowned when he saw George looking preoccupied and just a stressed as he had looked all week. Fred leaned over and nudged him with his elbow and raised his eyebrows when George finally looked over and caught his eye.

"Hermione's not back yet," George said in a quiet, tense voice with a half glance at the compartment door. Fred crinkled his brow in thought and vaguely recalled Hermione announcing that she was going to use the loo, but that had hardly been five minutes ago.

"George, I'm sure she's fine. She hasn't even been gone for…" Fred trailed off, seeing his words were doing nothing to calm his twin and in fact seemed to be agitating him further.

"George?" he asked his brother quietly.

"Something's wrong," George stated as he stared worriedly at the compartment door and fidgeted restlessly in his seat. Fred frowned. A soft hand lightly touched his forearm and startled him out of his thoughts. Fred turned to the owner. Nikki raised her eyebrows questioningly and flicked her eyes towards George. Fred shrugged helplessly in return. It wasn't normal for his brother to get like this.

"I need to go check on her," George said as he abruptly jumped to his feet. Fred was immediately on his feet as well, but was holding George back from bolting out the door.

"George, it's a girls' loo. You can't just-,"

"I'll go," Nikki offered over Fred and George's struggle. George stopped struggling to get free and nodded jerkily at her. Fred shot her a grateful look that she acknowledged before slipping out of the compartment. George threw himself back down onto his seat and resumed his ceaseless twitching and watching of the door. Fred sighed wearily and resumed his seat as well. They now had the attention of the entire compartment. They were all sharing concerned looks and also began watching the door. The playfulness that had previously filled the area was replaced with an anxious silence. Fred seriously hoped that they were able to get rid of Vody by the end of the summer, because he was getting sick and tired of living in all of this stress and fear.

"She wasn't there."

Nikki came bursting back into the compartment, out of breath and looking very worried. Fred and George were instantly on their feet, quickly followed by Lily, Alice, and the Marauders.

"But then where could she be?"

"Should we check the rest of the train?"

"She could be anywhere?"

"Look, everyone just-,"

The questions and exclamations were quieted instantaneously by the arrival of a very familiar silver otter that floated in through the closed window. It opened its mouth and Hermione's voice poured from within it, sounding rushed and panicked.

"George-!" her voice exclaimed before being cut off abruptly by her own scream of pain. The screaming stopped as quickly as it had begun and the otter dissolved into thin air. Everyone began talking at once, looking pale and terrified. Fred turned to his brother, his face stark white making his freckles stand out more than ever against his flesh.

"George-," he choked out in a strangled voice, not even sure what he could say. It didn't matter though, because George wasn't listening. His face was a mirror image of his twin's and was digging frantically through his pockets. He finally found what he'd been looking for and cupped it in his palm. Then he tapped it twice with his wand.

"_Point me_," he murmured to the seemingly insignificant marble. Immediately an image bloomed up from the marble to hover in the air in front of George. Fred leaned forward to examine the image and frowned. It appeared to be someone's rather extensive house, but it was not familiar to him. He glanced up at George's face and saw the fear and determination written there.

"George wait-," Fred called out quickly as he saw what his twin was planning to do form on his face. He grasped his twin's wrist tightly, but it was too late. George was already turning on the spot with his wand still clutched tightly in his hand and then they were both gone. The compartment filled with their forgotten friends was in a shocked silence.

"Did anyone get a good look at it?" Nikki asked after several seconds, referring to the image that had disappeared with the twins. No one had. Nikki sighed and sank down into Fred's now vacant seat. This was going to be a very long and stress-filled train ride.

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|4|~*~|4|

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Fred stumbled as his feet hit the ground and gulped down air after the unexpected disapparation. He took in his surroundings with a glance. He was in the middle of an empty, smooth, and straight dirt path lined with trees and foliage that ended at the large house he'd seen in the marble's projected image. And there was George, already striding quickly up to the imposing building. Fred cursed under his breath and ran to catch up to his impulsive other half.

"George, _stop_," he hissed as he reached his twin and pulled back hard on his t-shirt. George was jerked back by the strength of the pull and stumbled.

"What the hell, Fred?" he hissed back angrily after regaining his footing. He sharply adjusted his collar and glared hotly at Fred.

"What the hell_, Fred?_" Fred hissed incredulously. "You're _George_, remember? What are you thinking right now, just storming off like you did? We don't know what or _who_ is in there and now you've left behind all of our friends and we can't get back to them because they're stuck on a speeding train!" Fred waved his arms widely as he squared off against his brother, frustration evident in his tone.

"I know Hermione's in there and I know they're hurting her and plan to kill her," George growled. He spun away from Fred to continue up to the house, but Fred grabbed his arm and whirled him back around.

"Would you stop and _think_ for a minute!" Fred exclaimed louder than he'd meant to. He lowered his voice and continued. "What's your grand plan, huh? You just going to walk in through the front door and demand her back from the first person you see? _Think George!_ Hermione would expect better from you. You're better than this. _We're_ better than this." Fred's words finally seemed to have pieced through George's skull. George simply looked sheepish and scared now.

"You're right," he admitted reluctantly to a spot over Fred's left shoulder. He sucked in a deep breath and let it back out. "I panicked. What do we do now?" Fred scoffed exasperatedly. Of course he would expect Fred to come up with a plan now.

"Well first let's get out of plain sight, yeah?" Fred asked with a slight grin. George looked around them and blinked and then looked even more sheepish.

"Er- yeah," he agreed with a wry grin of his own. The twins moved off the path quickly and ducked behind some foliage that was thick and still allowed them a good view of the house.

"Okay, so my thought is that she'll be either on the first floor or lower so that's where all of their security will be," Fred whispered conspiratorially as they crouched behind the bushes. "So I say we each levitate the other up to one of the windows of an upper floor. We'll have to be disillusioned of course, but it'll be a cinch for us. Then from there we search. I have a couple Decoy Detonators and a Portable Swamp. How bout you?"

George turned out his pockets and revealed a few high capacity stink pellets of the twins' invention, a half full pouch of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, and two Canary Crèmes.

"Good haul," Fred complimented under his breath. They then began wordlessly spitting up their products so each had a fair amount for any given situation. Fred found himself with his Portable Swamp, two stink pellets, a Canary Crème, and one Decoy Detonator while George had the same, minus the Portable Swamp and adding his Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder.

"Shall we go around back and scout out a desirable window?" Fred asked after they'd stuffed their emergency prank items back into their respective pockets. George nodded curtly, looking worried. Fred dropped a hand reassuringly onto his brother's shoulder.

"We'll get to her in time Georgie," he promised with a rare serious look upon his face. George swallowed with difficulty.

"But what if… We don't?" he asked quietly. Fred squeezed his shoulder.

"We will. We don't have any other choice. Can you imagine our lives without her anymore?" he asked. George shook his head. "Me either. We'll save her, because we have nothing else to lose," Fred said grimly. George nodded and a familiar determination began to steel behind his eyes. Fred felt relief wash through him at the sight. They would be okay. They could do this.

"Alright. Now up you get Forge," Fred said as he stood and they helped George to his feet. "We have a damsel in distress to rescue." George snorted and pulled out his wand.

"Damsel in distress? Yeah right. I'm sure we'll get there and find her having tea and biscuits surrounded by bodies and then she'll demand to know what took us so long," he said grinning wryly. Fred chuckled.

"That's the ticket," he told his twin. "Now hold still."

Fred rapped George atop his head with his wand. What seemed to be a liquid that matched the foliage behind them streamed from Fred's wand and trickled down George's body. After the spell finished taking effect George did the same for Fred. The twins were now perfectly camouflaged to their surroundings and if they stood still enough they completely disappeared.

"Ready Gred?"

"Ready Forge."

No more words were needed and they quietly slipped through the trees towards the house. Years of practice at sneaking left them silent. They couldn't see the other except for the ripples they caused through their surroundings, but even if they were completely invisible they would be able to find each other on pure instinct. They could _feel_ where the other was. It was like there was a force pulling them together. While Fred had been dead that force had disappeared with him, leaving George suddenly lostand adrift in his life.

A tap on Fred's shoulder drew his attention to his twin. _Top floor, far left_. It seemed like a good choice. It was in a dark area of the house and it looked like nobody was around. Fred nodded his agreement and silently began levitating his twin to the chosen window. It was five stories up. A fall like that would certainly kill him, but George trusted Fred inexplicably and vice versa. Neither would allow his twin to come to any harm under his wand. Normally it was very difficult to levitate someone or something that you couldn't really see, but Fred and George were exceptional wizards and thanks to their connection it wasn't a problem.

Fred hovered George before the window and waited for George to get it open. In a matter of seconds George had popped it open and Fred floated him through and released the spell. Then Fred found himself floating up towards the same window. Less than a minute later he was standing in a dark dusty room next to George. He shut the window and then he and George were slipping out the door and into the quiet hall. Their footsteps were swallowed by the thick plush carpeting lining the hallway. They crept cautiously forward although neither thought it necessary. Judging by the thick amounts of dust puffing up around their feet no one had been up this way for quite some time.

At the end of the hall they encountered a long spiral staircase going down. Fred scowled deeply and could literally feel George's amusement radiating off of him. Fred leaned over the railing to look down and saw that it must have been the main staircase because it went down all five floors and then some, with small landings leading to the other floors along the way. What psychotic person would make a spiral staircase their main staircase for so many floors? Surely it was insanity. Fred was interrupted from his surly thoughts by his feet suddenly lifting from the floor.

A quick glance at George's disillusioned form confirmed that he was in control of Fred's sudden levitation. George floated Fred up and over the railing and then proceeded to have him descend directly down the center of the spiral. _Genius_, Fred thought to himself. It would save them time and energy, not to mention the headache and rolling stomach that comes from all of those circles. After about two minutes of careful and slow descent Fred's feet touched the floor on the ground level.

He immediately turned and guided his brother down to his side. It was a little more difficult than doing it outside had been when he could clearly tell where his brother was, but the closer George got to him, the easier it became. Soon enough George's feet touched down beside him and Fred released the spell. George gestured that they split up and search the floor, but Fred immediately rejected the idea. There was no way they were going to split up. It was foolish enough for just the two of them to be in here, no way were they going to go it alone. George then signaled that they should begin their search counter-clockwise and Fred was about to agree when a blood chilling scream vibrated up the stairs from somewhere below along with angry shouting voices.

Fred and George didn't waste any time before simultaneously throwing themselves over the railing and down the center of the spiral staircase. Air rushed past them, whipping their hair and clothing about them as they plummeted. Then, as the ground came rushing into view Fred quickly cast a strong cushioning charm while George cast a silencing charm to keep their presence hidden. They hit the ground painlessly without a sound and quickly got back to their feet.

The screaming had stopped by now, but the angry voices continued, so Fred and George followed them, counting on them to lead them to Hermione. They were currently in a dark and dank basement. It had stone walls with torches places along it for lighting. The walls were slightly damp and the whole place stank like moss and sitting water. It was an unpleasant place that reminded both twins strongly of the potions classroom that Snape had taught them in. After walking silently down several different corridors they reached an open room that the voices appeared to be coming from. Fred gestured at George and then they both silently slipped into the stone room and began slowly creeping in opposite directions around the room.

There were more torches lining the walls in the room, but also a roaring fire going in the fireplace on the far wall from the door. There were few decorations, only a few tattered tapestries hanging on the walls depicting witches and wizards burning or otherwise torturing what could only be muggles. Just looking at them turned Fred's stomach. He still wasn't sure whose house he was in, but it most definitely belonged to a dark wizard, if not a Death Eater.

In the center of the room was a group of seven Hogwarts aged students, huddled around a figure on the floor. They were arguing loudly over what they should do with '_the filthy blood traitor_' as they referred to whom Fred assumed must be Hermione. Two boys and a girl who Fred recognized as being in Slytherin and Gryffindor respectively argued that they should just kill her now and be done with it. Fred's stomach clenched in fury that a Gryffindor would betray one of their own. The rest of them, three Ravenclaws and another Slytherin were saying that they should turn her in to Voldemort and not risk his displeasure.

Fred turned his attention to the figure on the floor as the students continued to argue, oblivious to the fact that they had company. The figure was definitely Hermione; no one could mistake that hair. She was on her knees and trying to quietly inch towards the Gryffindor girl who, now that Fred looked, was holding a second wand that must be Hermione's. Hermione was a good foot away, but the others were so absorbed in their heated argument that she could easily get it. Being stuck surrounded by them, seven on one though would not be so easy to get out of. Lucky for her though, she had friends willing to go to the ends of the Earth for her.

Fred looked in George's direction and somehow managed to communicate a signal with him even though they could hardly see each other. George was to get Hermione's attention that they were there without alerting her captors and Fred was supposed to get as close as possible to help Hermione when George revealed himself. It was a game they played quite often while pranking people; look at this hand, not the other. They were, of course, quite good at it. Fred saw Hermione's attention snap suddenly to George and a relieved half smile briefly flit across her lips and Fred knew she had gotten the signal.

Seconds later, George was suddenly visible on the other side of the room. Hermione's kidnappers immediately noticed him and began jumping into action, but not before Hermione launched herself at the Gryffindor girl and wrestled her wand from her grip and leaving the girl stunned on the floor. Fred smiled proudly as he began easily picking off the rest of the captors who stood with their backs to him as they slung curses at his brother. He had taken down three more before they cottoned on and realized there was more than just George in the room. Fred decided it was time to reveal himself when one Ravenclaw began firing spells at random around the room hoping to hit him and whoever else might have been there.

Fred, George, and Hermione now surrounded the would-be captors in a slightly staggered three-point triangle formation. There were only three left, but they were fighting desperately back-to-back with everything they had. The trio still had the upper hand and was beginning to feel victory when a Ravenclaw girl suddenly thought to revive two of her friends. Suddenly the odds were against Hermione and the twins and they had to fight harder than ever just to stay afloat. Fred dodged curse after curse while sending off several of his own and hoping they hit their mark. Then suddenly an orange curse broke through Hermione's shield and she went down, unconscious.

"Hermione!" Fred and George chorused. They immediately sprinted over to protect her while covering their backs to the best of their ability. Fred was hit with a severing charm what gouged a cut through his wand arm, but he gritted his teeth and bit back a groan. He reached Hermione first and stood in front of her lifeless body as he waited for George. George suddenly flew past him as he was hit with a banishing charm and crashed into the wall, smacking his head sharply against the stone.

Fred was so busy fending off curses with his injured arm that he couldn't even turn to check if his twin was alright. He held his breath and hoped that George was still conscious, otherwise things were about to get very bad. Just as Fred was about to buckle George was suddenly at his side, battling fiercely. Fred released his breath and fought with renewed vigor. They still stood a chance. George managed to transfigure someone into a hideous dog-vomit yellow armchair, but they were still three on two and having Hermione behind them, unable to protect herself, severely limited their dodging ability. It was time to go.

Fred reached into his pocket and withdrew two stink pellets. Usually one was enough to fill an entire room with noxious fumes, but this was a special occasion that he thought warranted double potency. He threw them both at their attackers and they exploded on the ground at their feet in two plumes of green smoke. He then put a bubble head charm on himself while George did the same with himself and Hermione. The spells and curses from their attackers stopped as they coughed and tried to escape the lung burning, eye-watering smell from the pellets.

George wasted no time in scooping Hermione up in his arms and sprinting for the exit 20 yards behind them and to the right. Fred followed close behind, keeping an eye out for anyone who managed to try and follow. A Ravenclaw had finally thought to use a bubblehead charm and Fred grinned. They had just trapped the stench into the bubble with them. Those pellets were designed by the _Weasley Twins_ for Merlin's sake. Of course a simple bubblehead charm wouldn't save you. Only if you managed to get one in place before the fumes reached you would you be safe.

The Ravenclaw gagged and sputtered and almost immediately removed the charm. Then in a rage, ran after the escaping trio, quickly followed by the rest of the crew. Fred sped up and managed to slip out behind George just as the first spells blasted apart the door beside his head. He ran beside George as they rounded a corner and headed for the staircase. They exchanged a half glance as they heard the furious yells behind them and the sound of spells blasting apart stone walls. With a discrete nod each they each dug into their pockets, George with some difficulty.

Fred pulled out his Portable Swamp and George the Instant Darkness Powder. George threw the powder behind them just at the kidnappers were rounding the corner and an instant later Fred threw down the Portable Swamp. The twins couldn't help but to laugh loudly as they heard splashing and loud cursing behind them when the junior Death Eaters unwittingly crashed into their swamp in the pitch black corridor. They reached the stairway seconds later and Fred levitated George and Hermione up it, simply because it was so much faster than running it. Once George reached the top he set down Hermione's unconscious body and returned the favor to his twin. Once the three of them were safely on the ground floor George picked up Hermione again and they strolled casually out the front door and down the walk a ways.

"Where to?" Fred asked once he figured they were past the disapparation wards. George appeared to be thinking for a moment.

"Dan's house," he decided after a moment. "He's got the day off and I don't know what Hermione was hit with." Fred nodded, anxiety flooding his chest as he surveyed the unconscious witch in George's arms. He didn't know what it was either.

"Dan's it is," he agreed. "What's the address again?"

"69 Oralabour Drive, London," George replied instantly with a half-hearted smirk. He was just as worried about Hermione as Fred was and found himself unable to fully appreciate the humor of the address. Fred smirked as well.

"Oh yeah," he said, having known the address all along, but just wanting George to say it. George rolled his eyes at his brother and then turned on his heel and disappeared with a pop, Fred following a spilt-second after.

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**AN: Hey everyone! **_**Please**_** let me know what you think!**


	5. Ch 5: Anything is Possible

_Disclaimer: I'm not Rowling (which is pronounced rolling, who knew right?) and I don't own Harry Potter and blah blah blah…_

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**Chapter 5: Anything is Possible**

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George appeared out of thin air on the front stoop of a narrow townhouse. The brown paint was peeling from the trim and window shutters, but it otherwise looked well kept; just like the rest of the homes. An instant later Fred appeared next to him with a pop.

"This it?" he asked with his hands stuffed in his trouser pockets as he gazed up at the house. George looked to the left of the front door and saw a rusty 69 attached there.

"Seems like it," he responded. "Want to knock and find out?" he asked. Fred didn't respond, but instead grabbed hold of the brass knocker and banged it against the door three times.

"Coming!" They heard a muffled shout from somewhere in the depths of the house. A moment later there was the clip clop of heavy footsteps coming closer to the door and then it was wrenched open to reveal Dan. Dan blinked first at the twins in bewilderment and then noticed Hermione unconscious in George's arms.

"Surprise," the twins said weakly. Dan stood there for a moment longer and then stepped back to allow them to enter the house. He shook his head as the twins filed past him.

"You three get into more trouble than a kelpie in a desert," he said. He shut the door behind him and gestured for them to follow him.

"We'll take that as a compliment," the twins said together as they followed Dan down a narrow hallway. Dan rolled his eyes and entered a small sitting room that housed a loveseat, couch, and armchair. He motioned for George to place Hermione on the couch, which George did, and then the twins settled themselves on the loveseat.

"What happened? Short version please," Dan asked as he withdrew his wand and began waving it over Hermione's body.

"Hermione was kidnapped and while we were rescuing her she got hit. We're not sure what she was hit with. Something orange I'm pretty sure it was," Fred answered.

"Yeah, orange," George agreed. Dan nodded absentmindedly, but kept his focus on Hermione.

"How long ago?" Dan asked after a stretch of silence.

"Umm, about 15 minutes before we got here," George answered. Dan frowned looking grim. This look made the twins very uneasy and they began squirming anxiously in their seats.

"What's wrong with her?" George asked when he couldn't take the strained silence any longer. Dan spared him half a glance before going back to waving his wand in complicated patterns over Hermione.

"The curse, whatever it was, has caused Hermione's liver to shut down," the Healer explained. George looked stricken. Fred's face while very concerned also looked confused.

"But that's not life threatening right?" Fred asked. "I mean you'll be able to fix it before it gets bad won't you?"

Dan continued to look grim and avoided the twin's eyes as he answered.

"Normally yes," he said. Fred and George both blanched at his hesitance and word choice.

"Normally?" George asked.

"Buuut…" Fred led him to continue.

"But in Hermione's case… Well the liver is in charge of filtering out toxins and poisons right?" Dan answered with a question. The twins both nodded, although their understanding of the functions of the human body was minimal at best.

"Well it would be easily fixable normally, but it seems whoever did this to Hermione has planned ahead," he said carefully.

"What do you mean?" Fred demanded while George sat white faced and terrified beside him hanging on the Healer's every word. Dan sighed and paused what he was doing to look sadly at the twins.

"At some point today someone slipped Hermione a light poison. Normally it would be something that the liver could just filter out and be done with, but with no liver… It could be fatal." Fred's jaw dropped open and his face morphed into a horrorstruck expression. George meanwhile slumped back against the back of the couch looking petrified and disbelieving all at once.

"But… But we've been checking her food for poisons," George said desperately. "We checked today. We would've known…" Dan was shaking his head sadly.

"This is normally such a nonthreatening poison that the test you did would gloss right over it. For a person with a functioning liver it might cause you to have an upset stomach for less than a day. I'm sorry. I'll do everything I can," Dan promised the boys. "I'm going to try siphoning the poison out of her blood and hopefully that will work."

"What if it doesn't?" Fred croaked. Dan avoided eye contact.

"Let's just pray it does," he said simply. George leaned forward and smashed his face into his palms, fisting his hands in his hair. Fred looked grim and scared, but placed a supportive hand on his twins back anyway.

"How long?" Fred asked in a strained voice.

"To get rid of the poison?" Dan asked. "As long as it takes."

And with that he went back to work, waving his wand intricately over Hermione's still form. At one point he summoned two different potions and coaxed them down her throat. While he worked Fred sat and watched stonily while George continued to sit with his face in his hands. It was several hours later that the Healer slowed down and finally collapsed into his armchair. Dan wiped the back of his sleeve across his brow and frowned deeply as he watched Hermione's unconscious form.

"Well?" Fred demanded, his voice gravelly from lack of use. George picked up his face to stare blearily first at Hermione, and then at the Healer.

"Now we wait. If I got it all then she should wake in a little while," Dan answered.

"And if you didn't?" Fred asked harshly.

"Then things will get complicated," Dan replied ominously.

Fred frowned and decided he didn't want to know exactly what he meant by that and hoped he wouldn't have to find out. So they sat and waited and waited and waited. After another half hour Fred got up and began to pace, his head constantly swiveling in Hermione's direction to check for any sign that she would be waking soon. George sat silently on the sofa and stared blankly at Hermione, as though the stress and fear had become too much for him and his emotions had just completely shut down.

Suddenly a loud, frantic banging was heard coming from the front of the house. All three men jumped and drew their wands. Fred and George immediately flanked Hermione's unconscious form while Dan started towards the doorway, wand held aloft.

"You two stay here and stay quiet," he ordered as he slipped from the room.

The twins were tense as they waited and were both listening carefully to the sounds coming from the end of the hall.

"Who's there?" they heard Dan demand without opening the door. They couldn't understand the muffled response, but it was sharp and loud and definitely female. Then Dan sighed and they heard the door get pulled open. Suddenly the female voice wasn't hard to distinguish at all.

"WHERE ARE THEY? DID THEY COME HERE? I'LL _ROAST_ THEM FOR THIS! NO WORD, NONE AT ALL! THEY COULD BE DEAD FOR ALL WE KNOW! BUT DO YOU THINK THEY'D BOTHER TO TAKE THE TIME TO LET THE REST OF US KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? NO!"

Fred's first thought at the words he heard was that it was his mother, but that didn't make sense and the volume wasn't quite to her caliber anyway. Then it clicked and he groaned, lowering his wand. George seemed to come to the same conclusion and they shared a dismayed look. And then she thundered into the room, her eyes flashing furiously like ice in the sun. The twins both took an involuntary step back.

Nikki stopped in front of them and said nothing as she stared angrily at the pair with her hands on her hips. Fred knew that, unlike his mother, the best way to deal with an angry Nikki is to just keep quiet and let her yell herself hoarse. If you keep interrupting her or even try answering her questions it will just aggravate her further.

"Well?" she demanded icily. Fred saw George's jaw twitch from the corner of his eye. Fred tipped his head minutely to get George's attention and once he had it warned him with his eyes to keep his yap shut. George received the warning and reeled back in the words he had been moments away from uttering. Unfortunately Nikki knew Fred well enough to catch on to the exchange.

She stomped up to Fred and stopped just short of stepping on his toes. Fred leaned back unconsciously from the rather short but intimidating girl; though his pride kept him from actually stepping back. She lifted her hand and jabbed him sharply in the center of his chest with her finger. Fred winced and fought the urge to rub the spot.

"Well Fred Weasley?" Nikki demanded in a frosty whisper, eyes narrowed in accusation. "Do you have anything to say for yourself? I'm sure there must be some great, fabulous, completely acceptable not to mention logical explanation for why you couldn't be bothered enough to let the rest of your so called friends know that you weren't all _dead_!"

Fred winced again and looked pleadingly at his twin. George looked just as lost as his twin as how best to call off the attack dog known as Nikki. Nikki shoved him hard in the chest to get his attention back on her.

"I asked you a question Weasley!" she yelled furiously. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!" The explosion Fred had been waiting for finally went off. "YOU THICK HEADED PRATS LEFT US BEHIND ON THE TRAIN ON SOME HAIR BRAINED RESCUE MISSION WHEN NONE OF US KNEW WHERE'D YOU'D GONE OR WHAT OR _WHO_ YOU'D BE FACING! WHAT THE _HELL_ FRED? YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOR HOURS AND DID YOU BOTHER SENDING A PATRONUS TO LET US KNOW WHAT HAD HAPPENED OR MAYBE, OH I DON'T KNOW, COME MEET US AT THE STATION? IT'S NOT LIKE OUR DESTINATION WAS A BLOODY SECRET WAS IT?

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU JUST LEFT US ALL TO WORRY OURSELVES OUT OF OUR MINDS ON THAT TRAIN! HOW DARE YOU! YOU HAD NO RIGHT! NONE AT ALL! DO YOU KNOW HOW TERRIBLE THAT IS? FOR YOUR FRIENDS TO BE OUT FIGHTING FOR THEIR _LIVES_ WHILE YOU JUST SIT ON YOUR _ARSE_ AND WAIT FOR NEWS ONLY THE NEWS NEVER COMES?! WHAT KIND OF _ASSHOLE_ DOESN'T BOTHER TO LET HIS FRIENDS KNOW THAT HE'S _ALIVE_ AFTER TAKING OFF WITHOUT A WORD? HUH? YOU TELL ME FRED WEASLEY! WHAT KIND OF PERSON _DOES_ THAT?"

Nikki was poking him in the chest again, her face twisted in fury with bright pink patches on her cheeks. Guilt rested heavily over Fred's heart. He hadn't spared a thought for his friends on the train after catching up with George and talking some sense into him. It's not like he hadn't had plenty of time while Dan worked his magic on Hermione to do something as quick and simple as send a Patronus to Nikki and let everyone know what had happened and where they were.

"I thought you were all dead!" Nikki shouted, her voice breaking. Fred's heart clenched at the pain-filled words and then he did the only thing he could think of to do. He pulled her against his chest quickly before she could fight back or get away. She struggled for a few moments, trying to get her hands in between their chests to shove him away, but Fred simply held her tighter and, just like that day in the Owlery, she eventually stopped fighting.

She buried her face in Fred's chest began taking deep calming breaths. Now that she was no longer struggling Fred noticed that she was shaking; not just her hands, but her entire body was trembling. He tightened his hold on her. Eventually she relaxed enough that the tremors stopped and Fred felt that now finally it would be safe to speak.

"I'm so sorry Nikki," he began in a soft, heartfelt tenor. He felt her lift her head and used one of his hands to gently push it back against his chest. It was a sign of how distraught Nikki was that she let him and left her head there as he continued one of his rare apologies. "You have every right to be mad at me, furious even. It was terrible of me not to think to let you know we were okay. If it'd been me left behind I'd be the same as you. I had plenty of time to send a Patronus, but we were so distracted and focused on Hermione that I just didn't even think… But that's not a good enough reason. I should have done something and I didn't and I'm so sorry."

Nikki didn't say anything, just continued to let him hold her for several long seconds.

"I don't forgive you yet," she said quietly.

"I don't expect you to," Fred answered.

"Good," Nikki replied. Fred smiled faintly and dropped his head, burying it in Nikki's short, black hair around her neck. Nikki stiffened at first, but then relaxed into the embrace once again. They stood together in the middle of the room for some time until Nikki pulled back. This time Fred let her go without a fight. Fred blinked in surprise at how full the room was. When Nikki had come in he had been so fixated on her and her fury that everything else kind of got tuned out. Now he noticed that everyone else was here as well.

The Marauders, Lily, and Alice all stood awkwardly at Hermione's bedside while Dan sat in his armchair, watching Fred with an odd look upon his face. Fred did a double take as he noticed the healer's attention and raised his eyebrows curiously at him. Dan shook his head and turned to check on Hermione again. Fred shrugged off the curious behavior. He looked around the room again and found George. He was standing a bit off from their group of friends and staring stonily down at Hermione's body. Fred frowned in concern and strode over to his twin.

When he reached him he placed a hand on George's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. George didn't have to look over to know who was there and Fred knew it. George instead leaned himself against Fred. Fred moved his arm around the back of his twin's shoulders and left it there. They simply stood there for several minutes, Fred acting as George's rock just as George had been for him many times throughout their lives.

"What if she doesn't wake up?"

George's voice came out the barest whisper, raspy from disuse, yet it still seemed to carry throughout the hushed room. Fred took his time thinking of an honest answer.

"Then we keep fighting," he eventually said in a sad gentle manner. "You know she wouldn't want us to do anything less." George said nothing for several long seconds.

"But…" he didn't seem able to put his thought into words, but he didn't need to. Fred knew what he was trying to say. He always did.

"Of course it'll be hard Georgie. But we can't back down now. And when the war's over we'll open our shop and make people laugh and forget for just a little while about the war and the horrors they've seen. Hermione would like that. I know she'd like to forget some things… We won't forget her Georgie. We couldn't if we tried. I love her too." George made a strangled sound in his throat. Fred turned his head and looked his twin in the face.

"Of course you can do it again. Of course it'll be hard, but you can do it. I'll be there for you this time. You won't be alone," Fred assured him. George looked over at his twin and Fred read his next thoughts in his eyes. A sharp pang reverberated in his chest.

"I won't die this time. I promise." George made the strangled sound again, but this time Fred waited, knowing George had something to say.

"You promised last time too," George finally muttered, looking away from his brother. Fred wracked his memories.

"I did?" he asked. George nodded sharply.

"The night before the final battle. I said something about writing letters just in case and you scoffed and said that neither of us was going to die. You said we'd be together and there was no way someone could take down the Weasley Twins, not when we've got each other's backs. I said something about it still being a possibility and you turned to me and grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me dead in the eye and said, '_I'm not going to die Georgie. I promise. Someone has to be the good looking twin and I can't let that heavy burden fall to you'_," George told his twin, his eyes looking haunted by the mere memory. Fred felt his insides wither and die at that look in his twin's eyes and tightened the arm draped around his shoulders.

George wasn't supposed to look like that, ever. He was supposed to look light-hearted and laid back and free; _happy_. And Fred was the one that had put that look there. It was physically painful for him to realize that. Fred had no one to blame but himself. He was the one that volunteered him and George to take care of blocking the secret passages. He was the one who had suggested that they split up and each take a group throughout the castle. He had been the one to fail to keep his promise. He had been the one to die.

"Stop that."

Fred looked back up to George's face and saw that the haunted look was gone (thank Merlin) and had been replaced by something that resembled a worn out version of anger.

"Don't do that," George repeated. "Don't beat yourself up over it. It's the past. It's done. Let's just… Just forget about it." Fred scrutinized his brother carefully.

"You haven't forgotten about it," he pointed out. George snorted.

"I wish I would," he said dryly, looking back at Hermione instead of Fred's steady gaze.

"Then I should remember it too," Fred argued stubbornly. George glared at Fred.

"Why? Isn't one of us having it constantly nagging us enough?" George demanded.

"Of course not," Fred replied tightly. "We're _twins_ George. We're supposed to do things and go through things _together_. So if it's bothering you then it's going to bother me too. That's just how it works. Deal with it." George scowled at his brother.

"You're an idiot," he told him.

"It's one of my more sought after qualities," Fred responded airily. George exhaled sharply out his nose and seemed to decide that ignoring Fred would simply be better than trying to argue with him. He turned his gaze back to his unconscious girlfriend. Fred smirked in victory. Poor George never did have the perseverance to argue with him seriously. The smirk was short lived however when Dan came over to check Hermione's vitals and frowned worriedly at the results.

"What's wrong?" Fred immediately demanded, covering up yet another strangled noise from George. Dan looked up apologetically at the twins first and then the rest of the room. He seemed to be steeling himself for delivering bad news. Fred tightened his grip around George to the point that, had George been paying any attention, it would hurt.

"Hermione…" Dan started off hesitantly. "It seems she has slipped into a coma."

Fred stood stock still as the news crashed over him like a tidal wave. A coma? For how long? Would she even come out of it? Where would she stay? Would she need to go to St. Mungos? What about George?! Fred's attention snapped to his twin at this final question that raced through his mind; and just in time too. George's knees buckled and it was only Fred's steely grip from earlier that kept him on his feet. Fred shifted his feet to a more balanced position to account for the additional weight of his now ghostly white twin.

"George?" Alice asked tentatively. She, Lily, and Remus all moved forward as though to help or comfort him.

"He's fine," Fred snapped impatiently, effectively stopping their advances. "What else can we do for her?" he continued sharply, addressing Dan. "She's not a lost cause. I know Hermione. She's a fighter. She can pull out of this. What else do we do? There has to be something." The regretful look on Dan's face made anger boil in Fred's stomach.

"Don't you dare tell me that there's nothing we can do!" Fred yelled angrily, holding onto George for dear life. "There has to be something. _Anything_! We can't just leave her like this! STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!" Fred roared. Dan's look of pity and sympathy simply made Fred even more frantic. If not for holding up George he probably would have rushed at the man by now.

"I'm sorry Fred, George. I truly am. But we just have to wait-,"

"I'M NOT GOING TO SIT BY AND DO NOTHING WHILE MY SISTER FIGHTS FOR HER LIFE!" Fred bellowed. He could feel heat rushing his face, ears, and neck; a result of his severe anger.

"Fred, listen. There's nothing we can d-,"

"THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING!" Fred continued to rage. "DON'T GIVE ME THAT BULLSHIT! THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING!"

"Then you do some research and tell me what it is we should be doing, because I don't know of anything we can do that would make a difference," Dan said, irritation coloring his words and making them short and sharp as thorns.

"Fine," Fred snarled through clenched teeth. "We will and you'll be the one looking the fool once we discover it." Fred then slung George's arm around his shoulders and heaved him over to the loveseat that they had occupied for most of the day, grumbling to himself all the way.

"People these days and their _rules_ and _limitations_. They don't know anything. How could you if you don't test the boundaries? It's called thinking outside the box. Figure it out. _Good_ _Godric_, I'll do it myself then. At least it'll get done right."

Fred got George settled on the couch and took a moment to look over his twin. George was deathly pale and was staring unseeing at Hermione. He seemed not to have any clue of what was going on around him and seemed to have lost all motor control aside from whatever muscles were keeping his head upright. '_Really it's a wonder that he's even still conscious_,' Fred thought to himself. He squatted down in front of his twin so their faces were level.

"George," Fred called out loudly, snapping his fingers in front of George's face. George blinked and turned his head slowly to gaze blankly at Fred's face.

"George!" Fred called a bit more forcefully while patting George's cheek sharply. George blinked again and finally focused on Fred's face, but retained the lost look about him. Fred sighed, thoroughly drained by the day's events. But he had to keep soldiering on for George's sake.

"George, listen to me," Fred said clearly. George blinked at his brother as though through a daze. Fred scowled. "C'mon Georgie, pay attention!" he commanded, pressing his hands to each side of George's face. George blinked again and nodded slightly. Fred almost relaxed in relief.

"Hermione's a survivor, George," he said forcefully, still holding his brother's face. "You know she is. I know she is. She is. She's going to pull out of this, you wait and see. Sinking down into a depression and turning into a mindless drone is not going to help her, you understand? Good," Fred said after seeing George's minuscule nod. He dropped his hands. "Because we're going to help her."

"We are?" George croaked, and through the pain and fear there was hope.

"Yes," Fred said. "We are."

"How?" George asked.

"By being our naturally brilliant selves of course," Fred answered with a smaller version of his cocky smirk. George's face fell a bit. "Oh no. None of that now," Fred warned sternly. "We've never doubted our skills before, now would be a terrible time to start."

"But-,"

"No buts," Fred interrupted his twin's weak protest with an almost harsh tone and his jaw clenched stubbornly. He rose to his feet and stood before George with his arms crossed over his chest. "Did we or did we not become entrepreneurs at age 16?"

"Yes, but-,"

"Did we or did we not invent a fully functioning transfiguration based product with no side effects at age 15 in a cauldron hidden beneath our bed using ingredients nicked from our mother and painstakingly found and harvested from the Forbidden Forest?"

"We did, but-,"

"DID WE or did we not research our _arses off_ day and night for _3 years straight_ to achieve our goal of opening a joke shop and then go without sleep for _months_ after dropping out of Hogwarts via broomstick so we could create enough inventory to keep up with the radical demands of the public for our amazing products?"

"We did."

"Did we or did we not create a password protected hidden channel in the Wizarding Wireless Network so Lee could broadcast the _real_ news in the war and inspire hope in the repressed and renew the strength in those fighting?"

"We did."

"Did we or did we not develop a truly unique and patented formula that allows you to not only combine normally combustible ingredients, but to also set them on a timer and determine the shape, color, flight pattern, and defensive properties while we were still in school and under the thumb of a psychotic, power hungry, tyrant?"

"We did."

"Have we ever heeded other people's rules or limitations before?"

"No."

"Have we ever given up when we've been told that we can't do something?"

"No."

"Have we ever let anyone tell us that we aren't good enough?"

"No."

"Have we ever-,"

"Okay! I get it! Jeez! Just shut up will you?" George finally exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air, but with the slightest grin teasing the corner of his mouth. Fred smirked in satisfaction.

"Then why the _hell_ would we start now?" he asked. George shook his head.

"We're not," George told him. Fred smiled proudly at his brother.

"Atta boy Gred."

"So how are we doing this, Forge?" George asked his face eager. Fred smirked.

"The same way we do everything. We're jumping in two feet first. No regrets." George smirked at Fred and then turned to Dan.

"Dan we're going to need every medical book, Potions book, medical history book, Charms book, Runes book, and Arithmancy book you can get your hands on; stat. And anything else that might look useful," George declared. Dan stared at the twins for a few more moments, seemingly torn between awe and incredulity, and then shook his head ruefully.

"I'll do my best," he promised and left the room, presumably to retrieve some books.

"I'm going to help you," Nikki informed the twins with her arms crossed as though daring anyone to reject her.

"Us too," Remus said, gesturing to Lily beside him. Alice, James, and Sirius nodded grimly as well.

"The more the merrier," Fred agreed easily. "You'll just have to have an open mind,"

"And don't toss out any ideas that seem farfetched," George continued. "Just keep telling yourself-,"

"Anything is possible," the twins finished together. Nikki raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Ah ah ah," Fred chastised her, wagging his finger. "No disbelief. If you're going to do this you'll have to do it our way." Nikki rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't being critical of your system," she told him. "I was merely thinking to myself that this is what turned you two around the bend and do I _really_ want to follow."

Fred laughed.

"Well of course you do," he told her good humoredly. "Everyone wants to be like us." Nikki snorted and rolled her eyes, but was saved from replying by her brother returning levitating a mountainous stack of books.

"That's all I can get tonight," Dan explained, "But I can get more tomorrow from the hospital library."

"Brilliant," Fred exclaimed, eyeing the books. There had to be at least 40 for them to go through.

"And while you're at the hospital we can check out the Ministry's library to see what they have," George interjected. Dan raised his eyebrows at him.

"Don't you have to be an employee and carry a special permit to use the Ministry's library?" he questioned.

"So?" Fred and George asked in unison, both blinking innocently up at him. Dan stared at the pair for a moment before shaking his head wearily.

"Good luck with these two you lot," Dan addressed the others. "You'll need it. I'm going to catch some sleep before my shift tomorrow morning. Make yourselves at home."

Everyone wished Dan a good night and then he left them to their research.

.

|5|~*~|5|

.

Everything was dark; dark and silent. Hermione felt like she was floating in the black emptiness with no control over where she was going. Where was she? How did she get here? She didn't know. All she remembered was a blinding orange and then nothing until she was here. Orange is better than green though right? She didn't know why, but the thought that it wasn't a green light relieved her.

She physically felt nothing in this blackness. Did she even have a body? She wasn't sure. If she did she couldn't move it or feel it. Normally this would inspire fear or panic, but all she felt was numb and detached from herself. She could just float away into oblivion and not care. She felt herself begin drifting deeper into the darkness.

Suddenly she heard a voice. It was muddled and distant, but seemed terrifyingly loud in her empty, silent space. Her first instinct was to flinch away, but then something from within her told her that she needed to go to that voice. It told her that if she didn't go to that voice something very bad would happen. She hesitated. How could she trust this voice? How did she know that it wouldn't hurt her?

All these questions and insecurities exhausted Hermione. It was getting harder to think through her jumbled thoughts. She would just lay here she decided. Until she could think of what would be the best decision she would do nothing. Just lay here… Just float about in the peaceful darkness, the never ending night…

**AN: Cliffie anyone? **

**Thoughts? Fears? General reactions? I'd love to hear (read) them. **


	6. Ch 6: In Which Books are Abused

**.**

**Chapter 6: In Which Books are Abused**

.

George poked his head stealthily around the polished stone corner. The coast was clear so he began swiftly walking towards his destination; the large, square stone archway housing a set of golden double doors. He was 15 feet from the library. 10 feet. Five… He had just pulled open the doors and gotten the briefest glimpse at a huge room filled with stacks of books when a rough hand grabbed him on the shoulder and abruptly spun him about.

"What do you think you're doing kid?" An old potbellied man in a blue maintenance robe demanded accusingly. George blinked innocently up at the man as a faint draft of air drifted past him.

"Well I'm supposed to be meeting my mum somewhere around here," George replied slowly, his brow crinkled in confusion. "She said level 3 by the-,"

"Well this is level 2 kid," the maintenance man interrupted impatiently as he stepped around George and shut the library door. He turned and stood in front of the door with his arms crossed over the top of his massive gut. "You missed your floor."

"Oh!" George exclaimed in surprise. "And here I was thinking she was off her rocker. Her directions made no sense! I thought it was just because she was a woman. You know how they are."

The maintenance man simply grunted in reply, his jowls wiggling with the action.

"Well you best be off after your mother, boy," the man advised in his gruff tone.

"Oh yes! Of course!" George replied eagerly. "Now which way was the lift again…" He wondered aloud as he ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair and looked around. The maintenance man huffed irritably before begrudgingly giving George directions back to the lift.

"Thanks so much!" George beamed at the man. The man merely grunted again in return and walked away grumbling about kids these days. George smirked in satisfaction at the man's back and hurried off back to the lift and then back to Dan's. Phase One: Complete.

.

|6|~*~|6|

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"What do you think about this one?" Lily breathed out to Fred beside her. Fred peered at the title on the worn text's spine before nodding his approval. Lily looked around quickly before speedily withdrawing her arm from beneath the cloak, snatching the book, and tucking both arm and book under the cloak. She had gotten into a routine and now there was but a brief flurry of movement as she nicked books from the shelves of the Ministry of Magic's library. Fred held open Hermione's beaded bag and Lily gently dropped the book into its depths to join the several others they had already collected.

Fred checked his watch and nodded at Lily. She nodded back and together they crept back to the entrance of the vast library. They stood off to the side of the doors and waited impatiently for them to open. After only a few moments of waiting the door clicked open quietly and an elderly witch with iron gray hair pulled back into a bun ducked her head into the library. The librarian lifted her head and frowned for a moment at the unwelcome intrusion in her uneventful day.

"Do you have a pass ma'am?" she asked in a stern, but hushed tone. The older woman jumped slightly at the question and opened the door fully and entered the room, leaving the door open in her wake.

"A pass?" she asked as Fred and Lily crept past her and out the door. The librarian sighed.

"Yes ma'am. If you don't have a signed permission pass to enter the library I'm going to have to ask you to leave," she informed the woman, not sounding sorry at all.

"Oh!" The woman gasped. "Oh I'm sorry! I didn't know. I just thought- But never mind. I apologize."

The librarian eyed her critically and then seemed to come to a decision. She nodded curtly at the woman.

"That's fine. Have a good day," she said stiffly as though unsure how else to make her dismissal clear without simply coming out and telling her to get out. The old woman smiled back and bid her the same as she backed her way out of the impressive room and shut the door behind her. She turned and seeing the empty corridor, sighed in relief.

"Good job."

The whispered words seemed to come from the empty air to her right. Alice simply smiled and started for the lift.

.

|6|~*~|6|

.

A door slammed open at the front of the house and George jumped to his feet, allowing the useless book he had been skimming to fall to the floor at his feet. Dan who was slouched in a conjured armchair beside George's frowned at the mistreatment of his old Charms book.

"You could have just set it on the table you know," he said grumpily. George ignored him and started for the hallway. Dan had just gotten back from a long day at the hospital and as it turns out the man becomes quite surly when he's tired. George had almost made it to the hall when Fred burst into the room dramatically followed, much more calmly, by Lily and Alice, the latter now glamour free and looking like her usual self.

"Mission accomplished!" Fred exclaimed happily with a broad smile. George beamed back.

"Took you long enough," George complained lightly. Fred ignored him and withdrew Hermione's beaded bag from his pocket and dropped it on the coffee table where it landed with a loud clunk quite disproportionate to its size.

"Yes well I had to practically drag Lily here into the place as she was so enamored with the view," Fred said with a sly look at Lily who had just deposited herself tiredly on the sofa beside Nikki with Alice on the floor at their feet. Lily glared halfheartedly at him.

"Oh hardly," she grumbled. Fred snorted.

"About gave us away too with that loud gasp," Fred continued. Lily's glare gained some heat.

"Oh did not. And it's a very beautiful library, not to mention-," Fred cut her off impatiently.

"Yes, yes. We all know what a bibliophile you are," he declared in a bored tone.

"A what?" James asked, unsure of whether or not his girlfriend had been insulted.

"It's this terrible disease where-,"

Lily interrupted Fred.

"It means a lover of books and there's nothing wrong with it," Lily told the room, glaring at Fred. James grinned and plopped himself beside his girlfriend, causing her to have to squish into Nikki to fit the three of them. James appeared not to notice their discomfort and wrapped his arm around Lily's shoulders.

"Of course there's not Lily darling. You're perfect the way you-,"

"Oh spare the rest of us and just propose already," Fred complained, rolling his eyes. James flushed a bright pink, but Lily didn't seem to notice. Fred smirked. George watched all of this with a raised brow.

"Shall we get on with the festivities then?" he asked dryly with a wry grin. Fred gestured grandly to the beaded bag.

"The honor is all yours Gred," he announced. George needed no other encouragement and neatly upended the bag, sending books spilling haphazardly all over the coffee table and from there to the floor.

"Careful!" Lily exclaimed, fearfully watching the books tumble. "Some of those are really old!" Fred and George rolled their eyes in unison.

"She's right you know," Remus added in her defense. "You could really damage those if you're not more careful."

"Says the other bibliophile," Fred muttered for the room to hear.

"I'm sure the Ministry has every charm and protection spell known to wizard kind on their precious books," George said in a bored tone as he shoved through the pile of books, occasionally stopping to glance over a cover before tossing it aside. George frowned and ran a hand through his once again ginger hair. They had decided for the mission that he looked too much like a Weasley so he'd charmed himself brunette. He sighed and sat down on his armchair.

"What's wrong?" Fred asked, his eyes flicking between his twin and the enormous pile of books. George shrugged one shoulder before answering.

"This is brilliant, really it is, I just… I hoped…" he shook his head and glanced briefly at Hermione's still form still occupying the couch before running his hand through his hair again and looking back at the book pile.

"Hoped there'd be something obvious," Fred asked quietly. George met his brother's understanding gaze.

"Was that stupid of me?" George asked. Fred immediately shook his head.

"No. It wasn't. I hoped that too. But it's all gonna turn out. You just wait Georgie," Fred promised. "Now let's get to work. These books aren't going to read themselves." George nodded and grabbed a thick volume from the top of the spilling pile. Fred followed suit and James, Alice, Lily, Nikki, and Remus weren't far behind him. Fred crinkled his brow as he stared around the room.

"Where's Sirius?" he asked as he realized who was missing. George tipped his head to the corner of the room with a smirk while Remus mimicked his smirk and James snorted. Nikki rolled her eyes and cracked open the book of her choice. In the far corner of the room, curled up in a ball was a large, shaggy black dog sleeping peacefully. Fred grinned mischievously.

"Well now it wouldn't be fair to let the old dog sleep through all the fun," he said and then with a swish of his wand a jet of water spurted across the room and drenched the pooch. Padfoot came to life with a yelp and immediately jumped out of the line of fire. Fred and James snickered at his misfortune while George grinned lackadaisically.

The dog seemed to glare at them and then before anyone could react, bounded across the room, stopping in front of Fred and began shaking the water from his coat. The girls shrieked and flinched away from the water while to boys lifted their books as shields.

"No!" Lily yelled at them. "The books!"

"They're fine Lily!" George told her exasperatedly.

"Er- Actually…" James piped up, holding up his now sodden text. Fred and George blinked in surprise at the dripping book and looked to their own in unison. The books, it seemed, had yet to have a water repelling charm on them like they would in the future.

"Oops," they said.

"Guess we'll have to be more careful," George elaborated. Lily looked about ready to physically attack him, but James restrained her. Sirius stared miserably at the mountainous heap of books before him.

"They don't bite you know," Remus teased. Sirius glared at his friend.

"As if last night wasn't bad enough," he complained as he roughly shuffled through the books for the thinnest one. "I've never read so many books in my entire life!"

"Padfoot, you only got through two," Remus reminded him with one eyebrow raised.

"Exactly!" Sirius yelled throwing his arms in the air. Remus rolled his eyes and cracked open the dust encrusted, monster of a tomb he held in his lap, choosing to ignore his friend. Sirius groaned dramatically and threw himself on the floor beside Alice and in front of James's legs with his chosen book; a handwritten journal by the looks of it. The room soon grew quiet as the sound of pages turning and the occasional scratch of a quill marking notes on parchment took precedence over conversation.

Several hours later not much had changed. Dan had opted for a nap, while everyone else held a book and was pouring over it with varying degrees of attentiveness. Alice had kicked Nikki to the floor and now resided beside a cuddling Lily and James on the sofa. Nikki was sprawled out on her stomach on the floor with Fred doing the same on her left. George occupied the same armchair as before only he sat with his back on the seat and his legs hanging over the end of the back rest and his head lolling over the edge of the cushion holding a book over his nose. Remus had transfigured himself a writing desk in the corner and sat hunched over a book occasionally jotting notes. Hermione was still hogging the couch in her comatose state and Sirius was currently on his 43rd bathroom break.

"Ugh! I can't do this anymore! My brain is about to start oozing out through my eye sockets!" James exclaimed, shoving his book from his lap and to the floor where it landed with a bang. Lily frowned at the book now lying on the floor and then turned and glared venomously at her boyfriend.

"I agree," Alice muttered before Lily could start her lecture. She shut her book and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"Perhaps we could use a break," Remus suggested tentatively from his corner desk, having turned around in his chair and now eyeing the twins warily. George frowned and looked down at Fred from his upside down position to get his opinion. Fred felt his brother's gaze and looked up from his text blearily. The familiar fatigue lining his brother's face had George turning himself right side up. The exhausted look had been a common one over the last couple years of first preparing for their shop and then trying to keep up with the demand for their products.

"'M fine Georgie. Don't look at me like that," Fred reassured his brother. George didn't look convinced, but nodded anyway.

"I guess whoever wants to take a break can," George told everyone.

"Did someone say break?" Sirius asked eagerly, appearing in the doorway. James snorted.

"Padfoot you haven't even been in here for a full ten minutes since we started," James grumbled.

"That doesn't mean I don't deserve a break," Sirius argued.

"Yeah, it kinda does," Remus interjected.

"Stuff it Moony," Sirius told him. "So what exactly does this break entail?" Everyone turned to George who had somehow become the decision maker for the time being. George rubbed his forehead and glanced lightly at Hermione while he shrugged.

"Whatever you guys want to do I guess," he told them disinterestedly. Fred scrutinized his twin quietly.

"You're not taking a break, are you?" he asked. George hesitated and then shook his head no.

"Well then I'm not going to either. I'll take a break when you do," Fred told him, turning back to his book. George rolled his eyes, but made no comment being all too familiar with this scenario from working at the shop.

"I'll keep going for a bit longer too," Nikki told everyone while Remus, Alice, Lily, and James stood from their seats and stretched their stiff muscles. Fred turned and frowned at her.

"No you should take a break too," he said. Nikki raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'll take a break when you do," she said, throwing his own words back in his face. Fred scowled.

"This is different," Fred insisted. "I'm used to this. You should take a break and relax for a bit." Nikki rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine Fred. I'll keep going for a bit longer," Nikki said unwaveringly.

"I think you should take a break," Fred maintained.

"No. Fred," Nikki responded testily. Fred noticed her tone and dropped the subject grudgingly.

"Fine, but you should take one soon," Fred relented.

"We'll see," Nikki said noncommittally as she turned back to the manuscript in front of her and flipped a page. Fred scowled at her mulishness and turned back to his own book. George had watched the whole debate with an air of amusement and now returned to his own text as well. The others debated for a few minutes on what they should do and eventually settled on seeing what there was to eat within walking distance of the house with Fred's stipulation that they bring something back for them to eat. The group left and the sitting room fell into a studious silence once more.

.

|6|~*~|6|

.

"So basically we're no closer to finding a cure than we were yesterday," George said dejectedly that evening after their progress meeting. No one had an answer for him. They all sat in a haphazard circle in Dan's sitting room while Dan himself was asleep in his bedroom. Each and every one of them looked exhausted. The day had clearly taken its toll. George stared forlornly at Hermione's still form.

"Well we still have time," Lily said bracingly. "We could still find something…" She trailed off as George began shaking his head.

"I think the Ministry's library has given us all it has," he announced dolefully. "We've been reading the same things over and over. We all had basically the same information to share. No one has found a way to bring someone out of a coma because we know next to nothing about what happens to the person while they're in a coma. If there was anything in the library that could help us then someone else would have tried something with it by now and we'd already have a cure."

"But still," Lily insisted, "There could be something new in the other books-,"

"Lily if you want to go through those last seven books be my guest," George interrupted sharply, "But I'm telling you now there's nothing new in them. I'm going to bed." He then got up and stalked out the door and to the guest room down the hall where the girls had slept the night prior. He slammed the door behind him and collapsed onto the twin sized bed face down and with a groan.

This whole thing was just… Ugh. George didn't know why he had bothered getting his hopes up in the first place. Finding out that there was absolutely nothing he could do was slowly crushing him. He felt he had failed. His only task for over a week had been to keep Hermione safe and he failed her and now she was on the brink of death.

George felt his throat tighten and tears painfully prick his eyes. It was all his fault. He should have protected her. He should have taken down the Death Eater's faster. He should have sent someone to the bathroom with her. He should have… He should have… It was just like when Fred died. That was his fault too. All his fault.

"Georgie?"

George hadn't heard the door open, but now he heard it shut, closing him in the room with Fred.

"George?" Fred asked again.

George grunted in response though it came out at a rather higher pitch than he'd intended. A weight pressed on the mattress beside George's left hip, but still he did not turn to acknowledge his brother.

"George we're trying," Fred almost whispered. George made no response. His throat was so tight that he feared nothing would come out except perhaps an embarrassing squeak. George heard Fred sigh quietly and then felt his warm hand grip George's shoulder and squeeze it firmly. The weight lifted off the mattress.

"Remember I'm here for you Georgie. No matter what," Fred told him straightforwardly. George heard Fred retreat to the door and suddenly bolted upright before his twin could leave.

"Fred?" His voice was just as squeaky as he'd feared. George stopped and cleared his throat and tried again. Fred turned from the door looking hopeful.

"Fred? Could you… Will you go through the last of those books?" George asked quietly as he picked carefully at the blanket beneath where he now sat on the edge of the bed. "Just- Just in case? I just… I can't sit there and watch all hope of a cure dwindle away," George admitted softly. Fred's face softened and relief swept through his features that his twin hadn't completely given up.

"Of course," he agreed easily. George shoulders drooped in relief and he felt some of the burden he carried on his back lighten slightly. George nodded in thanks because once again he feared he'd lost the ability to speak. Fred understood without words needing to be said and left George on his own with his thoughts.

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|6|~*~|6|

.

"When are you going to stop?" Nikki growled grumpily. They were the only two still up. The girls had retreated to their guest room for the night, kicking George out and leaving him to find sanctuary elsewhere in the cramped townhouse. The Marauders were sprawled randomly throughout the living room snoring with various intensities.

"When the books are gone," Fred replied drowsily while rubbing his eyes roughly. He blinked rapidly, willing his eyes to focus on the tiny black letters. Nikki scoffed harshly.

"You need to take a break," told him.

"Not until I'm done," Fred replied distractedly. Nikki scowled and snatched the book from in front of Fred's nose.

"Hey!" Fred yelled as he tried to grab it back. Nikki leapt nimbly to her feet and danced away. Fred heaved himself up and darted after her. Nikki skipped over James's sleeping form and it was only Fred's Quidditch reflexes that kept him from plowing over him. Fred jumped over him at the last second and in the same motion managed to grab Nikki's wrist. She twisted away and sprinted out of the room.

Fred pounded after her down the hall. She slipped into the kitchen and Fred charged in after her. Nikki was stopped in the center of the kitchen glancing around for an escape route when Fred barged into the room. She whirled around at his entrance and backed away from him until she hit the counter, the book hidden behind her back.

"Hand it over Nik," Fred demanded as he slowly approached her. Nikki glared at him, her back straight and proud.

"No," she said with a stubborn set to her jaw. Fred scowled at her.

"I'm not in the mood for games Nikki," he told her irritably.

"This isn't a game," Nikki told him. "I'm serious. You can't keep this up."

"Yes I can," Fred insisted stopping in front of her. "There're only three left. I'm going to finish tonight."

"30 minutes," Nikki bargained. "Just take 30 minutes to relax and then you can finish."

"I can't," Fred said, taking another step closer until he could feel the heat of Nikki's body radiating off of her. "I have to finish for George."

"George is sleeping. He won't know any different."

Fred snorted and smiled sadly.

"You don't know him like I do," he told her. "There's no way he's sleeping. He's sitting around and stewing and blaming himself. The sooner I finish the sooner we can figure out a new plan."

"What about you Fred?" Nikki changed tracks. "Someone needs to take care of you too." Fred shook his head.

"It's not about me. It's about George and Hermione," he insisted. Nikki huffed in irritation.

"No it's not. It's about all of us. We're all hurting. I _know_ you are," she told him shrewdly. Fred scowled at her.

"That's not important. George is the most important and if I can't fix Hermione then I don't know what's going to happen to him. I can't let him lose Hermione," Fred confessed reaching around her for the book. Nikki shuffled over a step to thwart him. He followed and placed a hand on the counter on either side of her to keep her from going anywhere else.

"You can't fix everything Fred," she said quietly, looking boldly up at his face, only inches from her own. "There are things you can't control. There might not be anything you can do."

Fred looked away for a moment as though her words had caused him pain. He looked back at her, his eyes pleading.

"I have to try," he said, the words catching in his throat. Nikki studied his face for a moment before she sighed and looked down, bringing the stolen book out from behind her back. She pressed it against his chest and he wrapped his fingers around it, but she didn't let go.

"I'm going to help you," she told him, her face set. Fred frowned and immediately started thinking up an argument.

"Don't waste your breath," Nikki told him abruptly. "It'll be faster with two of us going through them and the faster we finish the better for George right?" Fred grimaced at her as she used his own words against him again and then sighed in defeat.

"Alright," he agreed reluctantly. Nikki relaxed and almost smiled as she realized she wasn't going to have to argue with him.

"Should we see what kind of sugary snacks Dan has?" she asked with a small grin as she slipped out from where Fred had her pinned against the counter and began digging through cupboards. Fred stood silently watching her with an odd expression and feeling in his chest.

"Think these will do?" she asked, holding up a bag of mini powdered doughnuts. Fred nodded wordlessly. Nikki grabbed a couple bottles of Butterbeer and the doughnuts and started for the hallway. She stopped and turned when she saw Fred wasn't following her.

"What?" she asked, seeing the look on his face. Fred shook his head slightly and walked towards her like he was heading out the doorway. When he reached her however he pulled her to him in a hug instead. Nikki's protest was muffled by his shirt and the clanking of the Butterbeer bottles and crumpling of the doughnut bag.

"You're the best," Fred told her earnestly.

"That's what everyone tells me," Nikki joked weakly, having managed to extract her face from his chest.

"No I mean it," Fred continued. "You are seriously the best Nik."

"Oh. Thanks," Nikki said awkwardly. "You're not too bad yourself." Fred chuckled and released her from the embrace.

"Ugh. You squished our doughnuts you oaf," Nikki complained playfully. Fred rolled his eyes and started out the doorway.

"They're still edible," he told her.

"But now they're going to be a mess to try and eat," she pressed on as she followed him.

"Oh boo hoo," Fred teased.

"I have half a mind to beat you over the head with these," Nikki said, raising the crumpled bag threateningly as they reentered the sitting room. Fred chuckled and ignored the threat, instead collapsing onto the empty love seat. Nikki scooped a book at random off the coffee table and dropped down beside him. Fred cracked open his book and began leafing through the pages trying to find where he'd left off. Nikki twisted the tops off the Butterbeers and handed one to Fred.

"Thanks," Fred murmured. He took a long gulp before returning to his book. Nikki sipped at hers as she skimmed the book in lap, occasionally pinching up some crumbling bits of doughnut that she had to suck off of her fingers. The minutes stretched into hours as the pair sat together studiously pouring over the books. Twice Nikki had returned to the kitchen to find more sustenance to keep them awake. There was one book left on the coffee table when Nikki's head fell onto Fred's shoulder and didn't move.

Fred glanced down to see her face relaxed and peaceful in sleep. He smiled a bit and took her Butterbeer from its precarious perch in her lap and gently settled it on the coffee table. He then wriggled her book from her grasp and saw that she'd only been halfway through before she lost her battle against sleep. He set aside his own finished book and set about finishing hers. An hour later he placed the book in the complete pile beside him on the floor and grabbed the last book from the table.

He sighed dismally as he ran a hand over the faded cover and rested his cheek on the top of Nikki's head. This was it. This was their last hope. Their last hopes of finding a cure resided in within the pages of, _Professor Wellington's Compilation of Medical Mysteries_. Fred didn't have much faith, but opened the book and began reading anyway. Two hours later he threw the book to the floor in disgust and allowed his head to fall back on the sofa and his eyes to sag closed; the weight of sleep almost impossible to stave off now.

They were done. That had been their last chance of discovering something to help Hermione and it had been just as useless as everything else. Fred lifted the hand that wasn't being pinned down by Nikki and scrubbed it up and down the side of his face. Now was the time to go break the news to George. Fred checked his watch and groaned. It was going on six and he hadn't slept a wink.

Regardless he carefully slid himself out from beneath Nikki and laid her down on the love seat. She stirred at the movement and blinked sleepily up at him.

"Fred?" she slurred. "Are we done?" Fred smiled sadly.

"Yeah, we're done," he replied. Nikki frowned and blinked slowly, obviously not quite awake.

"You going to get George?" she murmured. Fred nodded gloomily.

"Tell him… Tell him we're not giving up," Nikki muttered as her eyes began drifting shut again. Fred smiled and gently smoothed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"O' course."

"And make sure both of you come back down when you're done," Nikki said, cracking one eye open to glare accusingly at him. Fred looked bemused.

"Why?" he asked.

"Cuz I'm worried about you," Nikki confessed as she only ever would when she was not fully awake. Fred felt something in his chest grow soft and warm.

"Course," Fred answered softly. Nikki peeked up at him as though to test his sincerity. Seemingly satisfied she nodded slightly and closed her eyes to go back to sleep. Fred smiled fondly at her and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before standing to leave, not missing the small smile that twitched her lips.

He sighed as he started up the stairs at the end of the hall, the small happiness that Nikki filled him with leaving him as he contemplated breaking the news to George. Of course it wasn't like George wasn't expecting it, but still. Fred didn't want to have to see his twin's face when he found out that they were back at square one. Fred stopped in front of the nondescript wooden door on his right, somehow knowing that George would be on the other side.

Fred summoned up his Gryffindor courage and opened the door. It was Dan's study. The room was small, mostly taken up by bookshelves and a large wooden desk on the right side of the room. On the left there was George sitting in a fat leather armchair with his head in his hands. Fred stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. George hesitated before lifting his head to stare mournfully at his twin.

No words were needed as George could read Fred's face as easily as a book. Misery lined George's face making him look much older than his 20 years. Fred cautiously approached his twin. He sat himself on the armrest of the chair and placed an arm around George's shoulders. George leaned into the touch and neither said anything for several minutes.

"We're not giving up Georgie," Fred repeated Nikki's words from earlier. The only thing to be heard for several seconds was the creaking of the house. Finally George responded.

"I know. I'm not either. I've been thinking…" George trailed off as Fred sat up straighter in anticipation. George always had the most brilliant ideas. Insane usually, but brilliant.

"What?" Fred asked impatiently when George didn't continue right away.

"Well… It's slightly mad, but…" George trailed off again.

"The best ideas always are, Georgie. Tell me," Fred demanded. George sighed.

"Well I was thinking that, you know plenty of people get access to the Ministry's library. There won't be any new information there," he said.

"But we had to try," Fred said.

"True," George agreed, "But it got me thinking that you know, why go to the information that people have already seen? We need to go find information that's new. That people haven't seen yet…" George trailed off as he felt the realization crash into his brother. Fred's eyes widened and he stared at George in amazement.

"The Department of Mysteries," Fred breathed. George nodded unnecessarily.

"I know it's completely barmy, but what if…" he trailed off again. Fred's eyes gleamed with excitement and hope as he turned to his twin.

"Barmy, but brilliant," he said with conviction. "George I always knew you were a genius." George smiled faintly.

"I just hope we can find something," he continued more confidently now. "You remember the Brain Room that Ron talked about? How he got attack by that brain there?"

Fred's eyes widened again.

"Yeah. That's bound to have _something_ on comas," Fred said excitedly. "George you're brilliant!" George smiled weakly.

"We just have to figure out how to get in," he said. This stopped Fred for a moment, but only just.

"We'll figure it out," Fred reassured him with conviction. "It's not impossible." George grinned at him twin thankfully. He knew Fred would do anything for him. Fred grinned back and stood abruptly.

"C'mon we're going to need sleep if we're breaking into the Ministry again tomorrow and I promised Nikki we'd come back down," he said. George's eyebrows shot up his forehead.

"Nikki?" he asked.

"Yeah," Fred shrugged. "She tried to stay up and help me finish up but fell asleep towards the end. She says she's worried about us." George snorted.

"Us? You mean you," he said as he stood from his armchair and stretched his stiff limbs.

"You think?" Fred asked in an uncharacteristically unsure tone. George froze and turned to Fred in poorly concealed astonishment. Was Fred finally admitting that he had not so friendly feelings towards the witch? George lowered his arms from their stretch in a would-be casual manner.

"Yeah I do," he said simply. Fred appeared to be deeply in thought for a moment and then just as quickly shook off the deep thoughts.

"Did something happen that I should know about?" George asked curiously, trying desperately to keep the grin off his face. Fred glanced at him and saw through his pitiful attempts at once.

"No," Fred said loudly, dispelling the memory of that feeling he got in his chest when they had been together in the kitchen earlier and then again when she had been dozing on the sofa. George smirked.

"Alright," he said, clearly only humoring Fred. Fred scowled at him and turned for the door. George caught him with a hand on his shoulder.

"You should go for it Fred," George told him seriously. Fred refused to turn and look at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said stiffly, his back to his twin. George rolled his eyes.

"Stop pretending Fred. Go for it while you still have the chance," he said with a hint of melancholy. The words coupled with the tone prompted Fred to turn. His expression showed the confusion he felt over the whole thing.

"I don't want to ruin our friendship," Fred said, feeling stupid. George snorted.

"You're going to lose your friendship no matter what you do," George told him. Fred looked stricken so George continued. "You can have so much more instead. And tell me honestly. Will you be able to sit by and simply be her friend when she goes off and marries some other bloke and starts a family?"

Fred's expression soured, but he nodded anyway.

"Yeah I think I could," he said. George sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Think about it Fred. What if it's Sirius, huh?" he asked. "Can you imagine that? You'd have to be happy for her and help with the wedding and then imagine the wedding night. You'd get pissed that night just so you wouldn't have to think about what Sirius is doing with her. Then she'll get pregnant and imagine kids with her eyes and Sirius's-,"

"Enough! I get it!" Fred exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "I'd be miserable okay."

"Then I don't get why you don't just-,"

"Because- Because I'm- Ugh." Fred ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He couldn't say it, but George understood. George's expression softened.

"The risk is just a part of life Fred," George told him quietly. "I mean look at me and Hermione. There's a good chance she's… I mean… But I don't wish I hadn't gotten involved or attached. I love her and if I get my way I'm going to be telling her that for the rest of my life and if not… Well I wouldn't trade the time we did have together for anything. No regrets, remember?"

Fred nodded distractedly. He seemed to be thinking deeply. George clapped him on the shoulder and walked past him and down the stairs. Fred stared after him for a moment before following slowly. He reached the bottom of the stairs and stood in the doorway of the sitting room for a moment. Nikki was sitting up and talking to George.

"You holding up?" she asked him. George glanced at Hermione briefly before answering.

"I'm managing," he said with a sad attempt at a smile. Nikki nodded in understanding though.

"Is Fred coming?" she asked next. George nodded.

"He'll be down in a minute."

"Good," Nikki said, laying back on the love seat and letting her eyes drift shut. "Make sure he sleeps. He's been working too hard."

"He'll sleep," George assured her as he conjured two squashy purple sleeping bags extremely reminiscent on the ones Dumbledore had created for the student population of Hogwarts the night Sirius had gotten into the school. Fred chose this moment to enter. George glanced up at him and raised his eyebrows. Fred half nodded half shrugged causing George to roll his eyes. Nikki cracked her eye open to peer up at Fred when his shadow stopped over her on the couch.

"You sure that's where you want to sleep tonight?" he asked her. "You could go sleep with the other girls." Nikki shook her head.

"Nah, I'll stay here. Someone's gotta make sure you boys stay otta trouble," she mumbled groggily with a slight grin. Fred shook his head in amusement.

"Alright, but you can't be mad if you wake up with antlers or something," Fred warned her. Nikki snorted.

"Like hell I can't," she said without opening her eyes. Fred grinned and wiggled down into his sleeping bag. Steadfastly ignoring the knowing look that George was giving him Fred closed his eyes and was asleep within seconds.

.

**AN: Here it is! Hope you enjoyed the developments on Fred and Nikki's not quite relationship. ;) Reviews make happy writers! **

**Oh and I apologize to any fellow bibliophiles out there who may have been offended by the mistreatment of books in this chapter. Although I did warn you in the chapter title… Kinda.**


	7. Ch 7: Out of the Woods And Back Again

**_SURPRISE!_**

_._

_DISCLAIMER: I'm not JK Rowling and this stuffs not mine._

.

**Chapter 7: In Which the Writer Finally Gets Her Act Together and Updates Her Dang Story**

***Ahem* 'Scuse me. I meant:**

**Chapter 7: Out of the Woods… And Back Again**

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"Shut up James," Remus hissed. James grinned cockily at his friend. Remus scowled back to show his irritation.

"Relax Moony. You're too high strung," James drawled as he glanced around lazily, not bothering to keep his voice down. Remus cringed at the sound and glanced around furtively with his wand raised as though expecting an attack, although in the close quarters he was currently sharing with one of his best mates it would be challenging to defend himself if he was.

"You seem to think that just because people can't _see_ you that they can't _hear_ you either," Remus snapped in an even lower tone than he had used previously as though it could make up for James's much louder volume. James snorted.

"Don't be stupid Moony," he chastised as he strolled around a corner. Remus glared at his friend even as he stumbled to keep up with James's long confident strides, the invisibility cloak billowing threateningly around his ankles. Falling behind even just a little would expose them and being exposed as intruders in the Department of Mysteries was one thing Remus would like to avoid at all costs. Being a werewolf was bad enough without adding a stint in Azkaban to his résumé. So granted James's cavalier, devil may care attitude was beginning to grate upon Remus's last nerve. With purely his self-preservation in mind Remus ignored James's final idiotic remark.

"James wait!" Remus whispered hastily. He grabbed for the hand that James was stretching out towards a door, but was too slow. James shoved open a random door, not seeming to care that anyone could be on the other side of it and perhaps become curious about a door in a top secret facility seemingly opening all on its own. Remus held his breath as the door finished its inward swing and then it stopped and stood open, waiting for them to enter. Remus let out his breath with a whoosh upon seeing the thankfully empty room.

If Remus hadn't been 500% certain that they were underground then he would have thought that they'd just stepped outside into a park or a meadow. It was unlike any room he'd ever seen before. A soft breeze tickled the hem of the cloak carrying the scent of the pond that was far off in the distance. Birds were harmonizing their own unique melodies and sunshine that felt uncannily genuine warmed the boys trapped beneath the invisibility cloak. The sweet perfume of hundreds of wildflowers wafted over Remus, as though calling to him to come relax in the sunshine.

Remus shook himself to get rid of this silly inclination. Now was definitely not a good time to relax.

"James that was reckless and just plain stupid," Remus harshly reprimanded his friend. "Anyone could have seen-,"

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

Remus froze and looked up at James with terror written across his face as he was interrupted mid-rant by a sharp female voice behind him.

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|7|~*~|7|

.

Raised voices coming from the front lawn roused George from staring apathetically at Hermione's inert form. He had to blink several times to moisten his dried out eyes before he could focus on anything around him. It appeared to be about midday, judging by the placement of the sun in the sky and the sounds and smells coming from the kitchen. His stomach growled at its abuse and only then did George realize that he hadn't eaten breakfast that morning. Come to think of it he didn't remember having dinner either… When _was_ the last time he'd-?

The voices broke him out of his fogged train of thought as the front door banged open and they lost their muffled quality. Now he could clearly hear Remus's voice ranting on loudly about something or another that James had done while James tried to interrupt, presumably trying to defend himself. Remus though, was on a roll and steamrolled right over James's feeble words.

"Dammit James! We could have gone to Azkaban! We could have been arrested and interrogated! What were you thinking? I just can't believe-,"

"Moony calm down," James tried to soothe his friend. "We didn't-,"

"Only because I confounded her!" Remus said loudly. George stepped into the hallway where James and Remus stood arguing. Their heads swiveled towards him in unison and then sad, apologetic expressions stole over their faces. George frowned, but before he could ask what happened Lily stepped out of the kitchen and into the hallway. She gave James a stern stare and then jerked her head back towards the kitchen.

"Come tell us what you guys found," she directed this at Remus and then turned, catching sight of George further down the hall and motioned to him as well. "Come eat George."

The three boys followed her vibrant red hair into the kitchen/dining room combination where Fred and Alice were already eating toasted cheese sandwiches, but Sirius and Nikki were nowhere in sight.

"Yuck," James complained immediately upon seeing the sandwiches. "I hate toasted cheese."

"Oh good," Remus said in a loud caustic tone as he threw himself into a chair at the table, "We should have them for every meal then."

Everyone stared at Remus in mild surprise. He was typically never the one to lash out and lose his temper.

"Okay, what did you do?" Lily demanded of James with her hands on her hips.

"He about got us caught!" Remus exclaimed as he grabbed a sandwich from the platter on the table and took a vicious bite.

"You did what?!" Lily demanded of James, her emerald eyes flashing dangerously. James gulped.

George slid into the chair beside Fred as Lily started yelling at her boyfriend. He grabbed a sandwich, ripped off a piece, and popped it into his mouth.

"Where's Sirius and Nikki?" he asked Fred. Fred immediately assumed a guilty facial expression that really only George ever picked up on. George immediately lowered his sandwich and raised his eyebrows in expectation. Fred glanced away uncomfortably as he chewed his sandwich.

"They uh, went to go check out those woods that Mione told us about, you know for headquarters," he said quietly to his sandwich. George only realized he wasn't breathing when he saw Alice eyeing the squashed sandwich in his fist with concern. George blew out his breath and dropped the sandwich remains to the table. He wiped his greasy hand on his trousers and swallowed with difficulty, his throat tight and dry.

It took him a moment to figure out why this news upset him so much. They were moving on. They hadn't given up on Hermione, but it was a wakeup call to George that the world wouldn't stop, the _war_ wouldn't wait while Hermione was injured. Life goes on. The thought made him feel sick. He cleared his throat, hoping it might make the horrible tightness go away. It didn't. Now Fred was looking at him in concern. He ignored him.

"So what'd you find?" he asked Remus with what he hoped was nonchalance while his heart contradicted the calm question by racing in his chest. They _had_ to have found something.

Remus stared down at his half eaten sandwich, his righteous anger evaporated as suddenly as pea sized hail in Death Valley. Lily stopped her lecture to hear the answer, leaving the kitchen in a heavy, expectant silence. George felt his chest tighten painfully as Remus continued to avoid eye contact.

"Well?" George pressed, leaning across the table towards Remus. His gut told him he already knew the answer, but George needed to hear it from the horse's mouth. Remus sighed deeply and then looked up to finally stare George in the face, his eyes brimming with sadness and pity. George leaned back in his chair as far as he could away from the outward display of emotion. His gut clenched and suddenly he wasn't so sure he wanted to hear it.

"We didn't find anything," Remus confessed quietly, staring directly at George with a gentleness to his voice as though he was telling a small child that his pet died. George flinched at the tone as much as the words. George opened his mouth and then closed it again, finding nothing to say. Fred placed a hand on his twin's shoulder, but George shrugged it off. There was no way his twin could understand what he was going through right now.

"There weren't any books anywhere," Remus continued his eyes and voice now pleading for George to understand. "Not even any notes left lying around. I'm sorr-,"

"It's fine," George cut him off harshly. "Fine." He stopped and cleared his throat, hating the tightness there. "It's… It's fine," he repeated for lack of anything else to say. Everyone was staring at him with pity in their eyes and splashed across their faces. George looked away.

"George-,"

George stood abruptly, the scraping of his chair cutting across Alice's hesitant words.

"I'm going to, ah… I'm going," George announced awkwardly, clearing his throat and staring above their heads.

"George-," Fred started, but George shook his head mutely and turned and walked out of the room with his face towards the floor.

"Just give him a bit."

George held back the snort that threatened to escape upon hearing Fred's words and continued down the hallway. _Just give me a bit to what exactly?_ He thought viciously. _Get used to the possibility that the girl I love might never wake up? That I'm powerless to save her? _The thought soured his stomach and added to the storm of negative emotions raging through him; despair, heartache, loss, hopelessness, guilt, fear. There were so many that he couldn't possibly identify them all. All he knew was that they made his stomach hurt and his chest tight and his heart feel like it might either shrivel into nothing or disintegrate into dust; whichever came first.

George reached Hermione's side and just stood there for a moment as he looked down at her. She was pale with dark circles under her eyes. She looked so fragile. But her breathing was steady and she didn't look any worse than she had these past few days. That was good right? So long as she didn't get any worse… But who's to say she would ever come out of it?

The pricking behind his eyes started and George dropped to his knees at Hermione's side and rested his head on her midriff. Hearing the steady beating of her heart helped keep the tears at bay. On impulse he wrapped his arms around her and clung on tightly. His head pounded, whether from a stress headache or from holding back tears for so long he didn't know.

"Come back Hermione," he whispered desperately. "We need you. _I_ need you. Come back to me. Please."

George knelt there for a long time. By the time he rose again it was dark and the boys were filtering into to the sitting room to sleep. George spoke to no one and went to the only room where he was guaranteed privacy.

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|7|~*~|7|

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Black. It was quickly becoming Hermione's least favorite color. She was so sick of being trapped in this black tomb. The numbness and exhaustion had worn off a while ago and now she just wanted to scream. She was trapped and she hated it. Her thoughts were still muddled and confused to the point that whenever she tried to think of a way out or even remember how she got there her thoughts would scatter and contort her memories leaving her horribly confused. It was so incredibly frustrating. She'd never felt more helpless in her life. Even when she was being tortured by Bellatrix she'd at least been able to keep her wits about her; to think.

_Come back._

If Hermione could have cocked her ear to hear better she would have. It was The Voice again. She'd only heard it a few times since she'd found herself trapped here and every time she did she would feel that inexplicable urge to follow it; to feel the warmth that she somehow knew would come, and to be enveloped in the soothing familiar scent that she couldn't quite name.

And then fear and uncertainty would strike through her like lightning. There was no way of knowing if it was safe. All she knew was that she didn't appear to be in danger by staying here in the darkness. But oh how she hated it here. What if following The Voice was her escape?

_Come back to me._

The Voice again. The pleading tone made her ache. There really was only one way to find out if the owner of The Voice was a threat or not, and staying here certainly wasn't helping her any more than it was hurting her. So she steeled herself.

_Please_.

Summoning up every ounce of her Gryffindor courage, Hermione made her decision. She willed herself to follow The Voice and began hoping for the best.

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|7|~*~|7|

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George sat lethargically in the armchair in Dan's study and stared unseeingly at the ceiling. He wasn't moving. He wasn't thinking. He wasn't feeling. Or at least he was trying not to do any of those things. He was failing miserably. He was trying not to think about Hermione, about the desperate situation. He was trying to block any and all feelings, but they were just too strong. The most he could do was hold them back so they didn't overwhelm him.

He sat, unmoving and waiting… Waiting for what, even he didn't know. A solution? A savior? A change? He wasn't sure. He just knew that the world, his world, was holding its breath and waiting… Waiting… Waiting…

A faint shout broke the tense silence, coming from downstairs. George was on his feet in an instant, ignoring his stiff muscles from sitting so still for so long. It was the sign. The sign that he had been waiting for. He barreled out of the study and pounded down the stairs, then practically threw himself into the sitting room, somehow knowing where he needed to be. The marauders were still struggling to fully wake and detangle themselves from their bedding, but Fred was kneeling on the floor beside Hermione on her couch. Without looking up Fred called out hoarsely.

"George."

George scrambled over to his brother and immediately saw what Fred was reacting to. Hermione was moving. She'd laid still and lifeless since falling into the coma, but now she was shifting restlessly. Her eyes flickered beneath closed lids, her lips twitched soundlessly, and her legs and arms twitched in agitation.

"How?" George rasped his voice raw from lack of use and shock. He dropped to his knees beside Fred and skimmed his fingers down Hermione's cheek. She flinched. George felt hope swell inside him for the first time in over a day.

"I don't know," Fred answered, staring at Hermione in wonderment. "I heard her shifting around. She woke me up and was like this."

George nodded. Truthfully Hermione really was hardly moving at all and making very little noise, but it didn't surprise him that the slight rustling she was doing was enough to rouse Fred. The war had made them all very light sleepers and very sensitive to noises out of the norm.

"You should talk to her."

George looked over his shoulder to where the voice had come from. It was Alice. She, Lily, Nikki, and the Marauders were all standing behind him and Fred. George must have been too intent on Hermione to hear the girls coming down the stairs.

"You think?" he asked skeptically. Alice shrugged.

"It just feels right. Help guide her back you know?"

George looked at Fred who shrugged in response.

"Couldn't hurt," he said.

So George grabbed her hand and began to speak. He told her about how much he missed her and how poorly he was handling it. How panicked he'd been. He told her about breaking into the Ministry's library and how she would have loved a chance to go and see it and how Lily could tell her all about it once she got better. He told her about his idea to break into the Department of Mysteries and how that had been a flop. He told her that they had been scouting out a location for headquarters, but he didn't know anything much about that because he hadn't taken the news well that life was still going on.

Fred tried to jump in and explain to her about headquarters, but Alice made him stop.

"I think it should be just George," she said. Fred glared at her, his lips thinning in a strong, but unintentional impression of McGonagall.

"She's my sister and I'm going to do what I can to help her," Fred snapped. Alice blinked in surprise.

"I just think-,"

But Fred had already turned back to Hermione and clasped his hand over the top of George's and Hermione's intertwined hands and was speaking in his gentlest tone of voice.

"We found a spot for headquarters in that wood you told us about." George turned to Fred in surprise. This was news to him, but considering he'd been pretty out of it all day this wasn't entirely shocking.

"It's a pretty decent clearing," Fred continued. "There's no muggle camping or trails for at least a seven mile radius. We already put up most of the wards and the rest will wait until after we build the place, which we haven't started yet, because we know you had some ideas and we didn't want to truly start without you unless we had to."

George felt an anxiety leave his chest upon hearing these last words. He hadn't even realized it was there until it was gone, but it was a relief to hear that they hadn't completely moved on without Hermione. That they'd still had hope for her. Fred seemed to sense this relief and gave George's hand that he still clasped a gentle squeeze. Of course he wouldn't just leave his twin and sister behind so easily. George had been silly to think so.

George decided to take back up the narrative after Fred shared his news. Together the twins talked to Hermione. They told her storied both new and old, some that she already knew, and some that she didn't. There was an unspoken agreement between those in the room. None would leave until either Hermione came out of the coma or she fell back into it.

At some point Lily had the sense to send a Patronus up to Dan to tell him to come down. Dan hurried down seconds later and did a quick vitals check on Hermione.

"Heart rate a little fast. Blood pressure normal. Breathing normal," he muttered to himself. "Hmm a spike in neurological activity. Interesting."

Fred and George ignored him and continued their very one sided conversation with the still unconscious Hermione, clinging to Alice's unfounded suggestion. An hour later Hermione's state finally had a significant change. Fred and George were in the middle of reminiscing about the time in their 7th year (their _first_ 7th year) when they'd charmed Hermione's school bag to only allow her access to its contents when she said 'All hail Fred and George Weasley; pranking legends'. They were recounting how funny, Mad Hermione had been when it happened.

She squeezed George's hand. Not a twitch, not a spasm, but a solid squeeze.

Fred and George both immediately broke off in their story.

"Hermione?" George asked hesitantly. There was a strained silence as everyone held their breath in anticipation. Hermione's lips moved and mumbled a word incoherently.

"What? Hermione, please," George pleaded. Hermione's lips moved again and this time the word was clear.

"Gits," she said weakly and then opened her eyes.

No one moved, struck dumb as they were and unsure whether or not to believe their eyes. Hermione smiled feebly and the spell was broken. James and Sirius yelled and danced around. Alice and Lily grabbed each other and each sobbed on the other. Remus collapsed into an armchair in relief with his hand shakily covering his eyes. Fred dropped from his knees to a cross legged position with his face in his hands, grinning, but fighting tears. Nikki dropped her hands to Fred's shoulders and squeezed, her own eyes glistening with unshed tears.

George let his tears stream unabashedly down his face and threw himself onto Hermione, holding her tightly, but carefully. Hermione chuckled weakly and tried to hug him back with her heavy arms. She felt like she'd been swimming for hours and was just now coming out of the water.

"I was so scared," George whispered into Hermione's abdomen, unheard by anyone except Hermione over all the hullabaloo James and Sirius were making. Hermione ran her fingers lovingly through George's hair.

"It's okay now," she reassured him in a soft voice, gruff from neglect. George lifted his head and stared into Hermione's eyes as though he was having trouble truly believing she was there. She smiled again and he could hold himself back no longer. He kissed Hermione's gently and she kissed him back.

"Oi get a room!" Fred exclaimed, although he was beaming, no trace of the tears that had moments ago threatened his vision. He pushed himself to his feet and loped an arm around Nikki's shoulders, winking at her happily. She rolled her eyes and continued to grin happily hugging Fred around his middle. It had been much too long since any of them had felt this light and carefree. It seemed they were finally out of the woods.

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|7|~*~|7|

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The sun peeked over the horizon, its warmth weak, but noticeable. Branches that had been barren for months were finally forming little green buds. Soon the dreary brown world would be alive with plants and animals again. The cool, damp spring air breezed about leisurely, whispering promises in the ears of those who stopped to listen. Hermione wished she could feel excited.

Spring was her favorite season after all; the season of new beginnings and fresh starts. The season of hope. She had been so sure that they'd be able to defeat Voldemort by now, just in time for the cold wet winter to take its leave and for spring to come in full of life to set everything right again. She sighed dejectedly. She was wrong. Just like she'd been wrong about so many other things lately; the diary and the cup just to start with her biggest failures.

Hermione stared off into the sunrise, her depressed thoughts circling her like vultures. Not even the rising sun could penetrate through her black cloud of despair. Sirius. Poor Sirius. She was supposed to have changed things. He was supposed to have a different fate, a better one. But she'd misjudged. It was her fault and he paid the price for her. She'd failed him. Maybe she couldn't really change the future. Maybe the timeline would find ways to fix itself; to stay on the same course.

"_Hermione, Hermione_!" A frantic voice called.

Hermione spun around, away from the balcony railing that she'd been leaning on. Her heart was pounding in her throat. This was it. It was time. She had to-

"Hermione."

Hermione woke with a start. Her name had been whispered, but still she jolted awake, her heart pounding. The last vestiges of her dream clung to her consciousness, disorienting her. It had been so real, like she'd been living it. She blinked and rubbed sleep from her eyes, finally focusing on the stocky red-head leaning over her.

"Sorry," George apologized sheepishly. Hermione smiled faintly and sighed, willing her heart rate to return to normal.

"It's alright George. I understand," she told him quietly, so as not to wake the other girls. Hermione hadn't had a full night's sleep since she'd awaken from her coma two weeks ago and it wasn't for lack of trying. George had become incredibly paranoid about Hermione sleeping. Dan had assured him that there was no way Hermione would fall back into the coma after being out of it so long, but it was one of those irrational fears. George couldn't help but panic when Hermione was asleep, fearing she would never wake up.

Hermione of course put up with it. She had picked up a few of her own irrational fears from the experience, including claustrophobia and nyctophobia; fear of small spaces and fear of the dark. She'd discovered her nyctophobia the very first night she'd gone back to sleeping in the guest room with the girls. The lights went out and Hermione launched into a full-fledged panic attack. Now they always left the door cracked open and the hall light on, making it incredibly easy for George to sneak in every night and check on her without waking anyone else.

She found out about the claustrophobia at the construction site of their headquarters. They had a magic construction crew working on the building (of course they modified their memories a bit once they'd finished) and Hermione had been there supervising and making sure she was available for anything that came up. They'd finished the basement and the hidden emergency escape tunnel and Hermione decided to check out the tunnel. She lasted about 30 seconds before she came scrambling back out sweating profusely and hyperventilating.

Dan said that there is the possibility that the phobias will fade in time, when the memories aren't as fresh. Hermione wasn't getting her hopes up. Not that she remembers much. It's mostly all feelings that come back when she strains her memory. Confusion, helplessness, being trapped and alone. And the color black. Always the color black. Hermione shuddered.

"Are you cold?" George asked, bringing Hermione back to the present as he perched himself on the edge of her cot. Hermione shook her head, but he frowned and rubbed her arms a bit anyway.

"Budge over would you?" George told her, knocking his hip against her shoulder. Hermione rolled her eyes, but obliged. George slide under the blankets and drew her against him, simply holding her close and feeling her warm breath ghosted across his arms.

"I'm sorry I keep waking you up," George whispered softly against the shell of her ear.

"It's okay," Hermione sighed.

"It's not really," George disagreed. "You need sleep. You're always exhausted and I'm keeping you up every night. I just… I get so…"

"I know," Hermione told him gently. They'd had this conversation many a night. She knew about George's panic attacks. She'd much rather he simply wake her up than to have to go through them every night.

"That's why it's okay," she told him. "Now go to sleep George. We've got a big day tomorrow." And they did. They were going to Knockturn Alley in the morning to get that vanishing cabinet to take to headquarters, which the magical construction workers had finished building the day before. James had been kind enough to offer to use some of his inheritance money to pay for both the construction fees and the cabinet. Not that it would take up much of his small fortune. Only problem was that a Potter waltzing into Knockturn Alley and visiting Borgin and Burkes' was going to scream SOMETHING FISHY IS GOING ON HERE. They would be lucky if old Borgin would even agree to do business with him.

So it was decided that Hermione would go in a hooded cloak (being the only one that wouldn't be recognized in an instant) with George sticking to her like spellotape under the invisibility cloak. It was fool proof. Well… No it really wasn't.

"I still don't like this," George grumbled. Hermione sighed.

"George we've talked about this-,"

"I know, I know," George interrupted. "But I still think it's too risky. If there's any Death Eaters around they'll recognize you. They're not likely to forget the witch that stood up to and fought their master and lived to tell about it."

"I know, George," Hermione sighed. It was an old conversation and they each had their lines to say, even though they knew nothing would convince the other that they were right. "But the same could be said for any of us. I'm the safest bet. Everyone from this time will be recognized and you and Fred stand out too much with your Weasley looks. Besides, I'll be wearing a cloak and I'll keep the hood up and my head down. No one will look twice at me. And you'll be there. I know you won't let anything happen."

George continued to look unconvinced, but kept his thoughts to himself. They lay together quietly for several minutes, just holding each other.

"We should get some sleep," George finally said. Hermione nodded silently, already beginning her slow drift into unconsciousness.

"Goodnight," George whispered.

"Goodnight," Hermione breathed back sleepily. George started to remove his arms from around Hermione's middle, but she tightened the grip she had on them.

"Stay?" she asked hesitantly. Although George came every night to wake Hermione and see for himself that she was okay, he'd never stayed with her. He always returned to his own cot in the sitting room with the boys. As was proper. Now though he smiled and snuggled back in beside her.

"I thought you'd never ask."

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|7|~*~|7|

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With a crack Hermione appeared in the small alleyway connecting Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley. A second crack sounded and Hermione felt a hand gently squeeze her shoulder. George was here. It was time to go. Hermione took a deep steadying breath, adjusted the hood on her cloak to make sure her face was still covered, and then set off into the eerie alley.

Unfortunately it looked about the same as it did in Hermione's time. Dingy, dirty, and despondent. Hermione kept her head down and swiftly walked to the building she had only been to once before. She didn't so much as pause before pushing open the door to the shop and marching inside. She hesitated a moment in the doorway under the guise of looking around. Really she was just making she that George had time to make it in behind her. She dropped the door after a few seconds and walked up to the counter just as a greasy old man appeared behind it.

"What can I do fer ya?" he asked gruffly, eyeing her up and down critically. Hermione straightened her back and ignored his scrutiny.

"I hear you have a vanishing cabinet in your possession," Hermione stated confidently. "Is this it?" she asked, gesturing to the large black cabinet she had passed when walking in the door, knowing full well that it was indeed the cabinet. Borgin didn't so much as glance at the cabinet.

"Aye, it is," he told her. "I ain't got the match though. Yer on yer own fer that."

"I'll manage," Hermione said dryly. "How much is it?"

"Fity galleons," he stated without hesitation. Hermione frowned at him, remembering Sirius's words of advice.

"_You'll have to barter_," he'd said, "_If you don't he'll immediately suspect. And besides you don't want James to get swindled by the old goat do ya_?"

"I hardly think it's worth that," Hermione scorned. "Look at its condition. Twenty-five."

Borgin sputtered incomprehensibly.

"Twenny-five?!" he exclaimed. "It's werth a helluvah lot more 'n that! Forty!" he demanded. Hermione raised an eyebrow at him.

"You don't even have its pair. Its value is decreased. Thirty," she offered. Borgin narrowed his eyes at her.

"Thirty-five. I'll go no lower," he told her looking miffed. Hermione appeared to think it over.

"Alright," she said. "It's a deal."

She pulled a note out of her pocket with James' Gringotts account information on it and scribbled the amount. She handed it to the disgruntled Borgin, but didn't let go once he'd grabbed it.

"And I'll have a receipt with that," she told him sternly. "And know that I will be in touch with Gringotts to ensure no more than the agreed amount is taken from my account." Borgin scowled at her.

"What kinda bus'ness ya think I'm runnin' missy?" he demanded. Hermione smiled grimly.

"I think we both know the answer to that," Hermione told him unwavering. Borgin scowled some more.

"Yeh'll get yer receipt," he grumbled. Hermione released the parchment.

"Good. And how do I go about moving the cabinet then?" she asked.

"Well now that's yer problem ain't it?" he said with a nasty smile before turning his back to her and heading to the back of the shop, presumably to make her a receipt. Hermione glowered after him. Unhelpful git. After some deliberating Hermione decided that it shouldn't hurt the cabinet to shrink it down and carry it out in her pocket for now. Just as she was stowing it away in her robes Borgin returned from the back, receipt in hand. He thrust it at her and she grabbed it and checked it over for accuracy.

"Everything seems to be in order," she said primly after scanning over the receipt. "Pleasure doing business with you," she said dryly. Borgin grumbled something under his breath, shot her a nasty look, and walked off to the back of his shop. Hermione watched him go before turning to leave herself. Her eyes settled on the cursed pearl necklace that Katie Bell had had the misfortune of handling and suppressed a shiver. The sooner she got out of here the better.

Hermione left the shop (holding the door open a fraction of a second longer than normal for George to exit) and started back towards Diagon Alley. She'd hardly made it more than a half dozen steps when a heavy hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around sharply. She grabbed her wand on reflex, but her assailant was prepared. His wand pressed into her throat and his unshaven face was far too close to hers for comfort. His teeth were crooked and yellow and his hot putrid breath washed over her face.

"Yeh made a mistake comin' to our neck 'o the woods girlie," the Death Eater said softly.

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**AN: I'm BAAAaaaaCK! I'm really terribly sorry for the long absence! You know, real life and all that. But anyway!**

**Yay! Hermione's out of the coma! *gasp* Oh no! Now she's gone and run into a Death Eater! What will happen next?!**

_**P.S. All of your reviews have been sooo awesome and very much appreciated! Nothing makes my day like hearing from all of you! :)**_


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